Chapter 46: Even the Martial Alliance is Soft
Chapter 45 – Even the Martial Alliance is Soft
“Match over!”
At Tang Ye-seol’s declaration, the gatekeepers of the Martial Alliance’s East Gate closed the gates all at once.
The cadets who were late by a hair’s breadth ran with all their might, but they ultimately could not break through the blocked gate.
Bang, bang, bang!
“Please open up! We caught a spiritual beast!”
“Open the gate! We went through all the trouble to catch it!”
Some cadets even threw tantrums while pouring out curses, but the heavy gate did not budge at all.
Tang Ye-seol scanned the cadets gathered in the Grand Martial Arena.
Sure enough, most of the cadets were from the Valiant Martial Academy and the Righteous Chivalry Academy.
‘Are there twenty groups in total that arrived within the time limit? Quite a few survived.’
Certainly, the talents this year were quite outstanding.
Among them, one person caught her eye.
‘Why does that idiot look like that?’
Her younger brother, Tang Wu-gi, was standing with a sullen expression, covered in blood.
Although she did not think there was any particular connection, her gaze naturally drifted toward Namgung Cheon.
A peculiar light shone in her eyes.
‘Namgung Cheon. Did he pass this time too?’
It was close, but it seemed he had returned before the sun rose.
He returned earlier than the group containing her brother, Tang Wu-gi.
Because she had slept soundly and just woken up, she did not know at all what had happened between them last night.
Tang Ye-seol shouted.
“Then, we will begin the inspection of the spiritual beasts now.”
After saying those words, she approached the members of the group that had arrived first.
It was a group consisting of cadets from the Valiant Martial Academy, which included Mount Hua Sect disciples Yu Hyeon and Ju Yeon-hwa.
What they had caught was a low-grade spiritual beast, the Black-Horned Snow Rabbit.
“Pass.”
“Thank you.”
The group members, including Yu Hyeon, cupped their fists in greeting all at once.
Tang Ye-seol nodded and moved to the next group.
‘Someone of Yu Hyeon’s caliber could have easily challenged a high-grade spiritual beast. It seems he chose practicality.’
What the next group caught was also a low-grade spiritual beast.
Naturally, the cadets who arrived earlier were more likely to have caught a low-grade spiritual beast.
Moving along while inspecting meticulously in that manner, Tang Ye-seol finally stood before Namgung Cheon, who had arrived nineteenth.
‘Oh, a Black-Cat Snow Child?’
The Black-Cat Snow Child was a high-grade spiritual beast that was not easy to catch even if first-class experts pounced on it.
As expected, was there indeed something to Namgung Cheon?
Or was it Paeng Su-hyeok or Jin So-hong, who were with him?
‘Or if not them…’
Casting her gaze at Yun Jong-seung last, Tang Ye-seol soon shook her head.
‘…Probably not.’
At any rate, it was an interesting group.
“Pass!”
When Tang Ye-seol declared this, Paeng Su-hyeok and Yun Jong-seung high-fived without realizing it.
“Nice…!”
Cheering at the same time, the two looked at each other, but soon, with awkward expressions, they turned their gazes toward the distant mountains.
Now, it was the group that had arrived last.
The group containing Tang Ye-seol’s younger brother and the elite cadets of the Righteous Chivalry Academy.
However, they looked to be in a terrible state.
Hwangbo Seung, who looked the sturdiest, was in such a battered state that it was a wonder he was even standing on his two feet, and Tang Wu-gi was huffing continuously as if he might explode.
Tang Ye-seol tried to ignore them, asking coldly.
“Where is the spiritual beast?”
Yue Goeng stepped forward hesitantly and held out something limp.
“This is…?”
Murong Gang replied coldly with an expression completely devoid of emotion.
“It is the Golden Blood Rat.”
“What?”
Tang Ye-seol was briefly confused.
What was a Golden Blood Rat again?
That was how little the Golden Blood Rat had crossed her mind.
Only after a fleeting moment did she recall that the Golden Blood Rat was included among the special-grade spiritual beasts.
But she had never imagined she would hear the words ‘Golden Blood Rat’ here.
Tang Ye-seol furrowed her brow slightly and asked.
“So you are saying this… is what?”
“It is the Golden Blood Rat.”
Murong Gang replied in the exact same tone as before.
Since he was so confident, it was difficult to doubt him hastily.
But…
‘For this to be the Golden Blood Rat…’
No matter how she looked at it, the limp rat with its belly sliced open appeared perfectly ordinary.
For her, she was in a situation where she could not be certain if this was truly the Golden Blood Rat.
“Deputy Captain.”
At her call, the Deputy Captain of the Red Wave Corps landed nimbly by her side.
“Yes, Captain.”
“Go and request cooperation from the Spirit-Tracking Corps Leader.”
“Understood!”
Having replied, the Deputy Captain leaped like a swallow and disappeared somewhere.
Tang Ye-seol frowned as she looked at the limp corpse of the Golden Blood Rat.
“Even if this is the Golden Blood Rat, why did you bring it back dead?”
“Is that a problem?”
When Murong Gang asked back bluntly, Tang Ye-seol furrowed her brow slightly.
“There has never been a case like this before.”
“Even if there is no precedent, we did not break the rules.”
“What?”
“Capture it by any means necessary. You never said we must capture it alive, or that killing it would result in disqualification.”
As Murong Gang answered back sharply, Tang Ye-seol could only let out a low groan, since there was nothing incorrect in Murong Gang’s words.
However, she had not expected them to be so fearless as to bring back a spiritual beast prepared by the Martial Alliance dead.
Moreover, a special-grade spiritual beast at that.
No, whether that was truly the Golden Blood Rat or not remained to be seen.
In truth, a dead Golden Blood Rat was difficult to distinguish from a common rat, so the definitive judgment of an expert was necessary.
At that moment, Tang Wu-gi, who had been waiting in silence, overtly expressed his dissatisfaction.
“Dammit, why is it so complicated? In the first place, there was no talk of dead or alive! Are you trying to change the rules now or what?”
“Silence. Setting aside the fact that it is dead, we need to verify whether this is truly the Golden Blood Rat.”
“Look closely unless you are blind! Have you ever seen such a large rat in your life? That is definitely the Golden Blood—!”
Swish, thack!
A hidden weapon flying through the air struck Tang Wu-gi’s forehead in the blink of an eye.
Fortunately, because it struck him with its flat side, it was not life-threatening, but since it was infused with internal energy, Tang Wu-gi collapsed spread-eagled and fainted on the spot.
Murong Gang watched Tang Ye-seol, inwardly tense.
‘To deliberately throw a hidden weapon with its flat side.’
Striking someone unconscious by throwing a hidden weapon with its flat side was an extremely difficult task.
It meant that Tang Ye-seol’s internal energy and technique were that profound.
Tang Ye-seol shook her head.
“What an idiot who cannot even separate public duty from private matters. You must have suffered a lot, having to drag that pathetic fellow around.”
“Not at all.”
Murong Gang replied with his usual expressionless face.
At that moment, Namgung Cheon spoke from the side, mockingly.
“Even so, this is a bit much. To bring a spiritual beast back by killing it so brutally. I don’t think this is right.”
“……!”
At that moment, even Murong Gang, who had maintained his composure the entire time, clenched his teeth and glared at Namgung Cheon.
Namgung Cheon muttered as if talking to himself, placing his clasped hands behind his head.
“Honestly, isn’t that so? If we were allowed to just kill it and bring it back, it would be way too easy. It’s not like they should make fools out of the people who brought theirs back alive.”
It was a soliloquy, but it was clearly meant to be heard.
The members of his own group were the ones who stood with their mouths agape at Namgung Cheon’s shamelessness.
Yun Jong-seung broke into a cold sweat and shook his head.
‘Namgung Cheon… you are truly a terrifying fellow. Flipping your attitude is easier than flipping your palm! If we had presented that Golden Blood Rat corpse… you would have surely sung a different tune, wouldn’t you?’
Whether Yun Jong-seung was thinking that or not, Namgung Cheon continued his mockery.
“Anyway, youngsters these days are real masters at nitpicking words. Just because they were told to use any means necessary, they went and killed it to bring back only its hide. Tsk, tsk. This is why you shouldn’t speak carelessly in front of kids.”
‘You are a kid too!’
Everyone had the same thought, but no one dared to utter it.
Instead, Hwangbo Seung, unable to endure it any longer, suddenly stepped forward.
“In any case, the final decision is up to the Captain! It is not for you to say this or that!”
“Good grief, can’t I even talk to myself? Oh my, how scary. So scary.”
“Shut up! This is all because of you—!”
Hwangbo Seung stopped mid-sentence and shut his mouth tight.
He could not bring himself to reveal that their spiritual beast was swapped because they fought among themselves and lost.
With other groups watching, how could he possibly admit that the elites of the Righteous Chivalry Academy had been beaten by the pushovers of the Dragon Heaven Academy?
While their insides were boiling with rage, Tang Ye-seol, finding something amusing, burst into a chuckle and looked at Namgung Cheon.
‘You are becoming more and more interesting, Namgung Cheon.’
* * *
Dark shadows landed one after another beside the Spirit-Tracking Corps Leader.
“Leader, we could not find it!”
“It is not here either!”
“It is not here, Leader!”
At the consecutive reports of his subordinates, the Spirit-Tracking Corps Leader’s expression distorted miserably.
Gritting his teeth, he strode over to one side.
Slap! Slap.
“Urgh!”
“Argh!”
Two members of the Spirit-Tracking Corps, clad in black capes, staggered after being slapped on the cheeks.
Those two were the members who had been tasked with monitoring the Golden Blood Rat.
“You useless bastards! You couldn’t even monitor a single Golden Blood Rat, causing this disaster?”
“We are sorry, Leader!”
The two knelt on the spot, shouting in unison.
“Don’t you know that even if we dock your salary for several years, it wouldn’t even cover the cost of a single Golden Blood Rat?!”
“We are sorry!”
“You blockheads!”
The Spirit-Tracking Corps Leader spun around.
Although he had lashed out at his subordinates, it was something he himself could not easily understand.
It was truly driving him crazy.
Where on earth had the Golden Blood Rat gone?
The members of the Spirit-Tracking Corps dispersed all over Mount Mulan, burning deer horns infused with internal energy.
In addition, they blew a specially crafted flute that could wake a sleeping Golden Blood Rat for about fifteen minutes.
However, it did not appear.
There was not even a trace.
It was then.
A group of Spirit-Tracking Corps members flew in toward the Leader.
Flutter!
The Spirit-Tracking Corps members who appeared with their capes fluttering knelt on one knee and reported all at once.
“We have found bloodstains of the Golden Blood Rat!”
“The last bloodstains cut off at a cave!”
“What?”
The Spirit-Tracking Corps Leader turned around with a surprised look.
“Where is it? Lead the way!”
“Understood!”
Just as the member of the Spirit-Tracking Corps was about to turn around and run, a person dressed in red martial attire rushed over at high speed.
“Spirit-Tracking Corps Leader!”
“You are… what brings the Deputy Captain of the Red Wave Corps here?”
“I would like to request your cooperation for a moment.”
“Request cooperation? If it is not an urgent matter, let us speak later. Right now, we are looking for the Golden Blood Rat…”
“It is about that Golden Blood Rat.”
“About the Golden Blood Rat…?”
As the Spirit-Tracking Corps Leader flinched and looked back, the Deputy Captain of the Red Wave Corps explained the situation.
Throughout the explanation, the Spirit-Tracking Corps Leader’s expression changed by the second.
* * *
“It is… undoubtedly the Golden Blood Rat.”
The Spirit-Tracking Corps Leader muttered with a miserable expression as he looked at the Golden Blood Rat corpse with its belly sliced open.
In all his years, he had never imagined he would see a Golden Blood Rat corpse with its belly sliced open.
Tang Ye-seol also looked visibly flustered.
“So this is truly the Golden Blood Rat?”
“Yes, indeed. There is no mistake.”
At the Spirit-Tracking Corps Leader’s confirmation, the surrounding cadets stirred and fell into a commotion.
An unprecedented situation had occurred.
Capturing a special-grade spiritual beast was miraculous enough, yet they had killed it outright.
Looking at how its belly was sliced open…
‘Could someone have devoured the inner elixir? No, they survived after consuming that?’
The Spirit-Tracking Corps Leader clutched his hair with a confused look. Soon, he turned around with a firm expression.
“Who is it? Who on earth dared to commit such an audacious act?”
As the Spirit-Tracking Corps Leader shouted, Tang Ye-seol held him back.
“We will find out in due time. More importantly, regarding the pass/fail decision…”
Tang Ye-seol and the Spirit-Tracking Corps Leader put their heads together and began to discuss.
The cadets also kept whispering.
A group that caught a special-grade spiritual beast. That in itself was a topic worthy of discussion.
Finally, Tang Ye-seol turned back to the cadets.
“I will announce the pass/fail decision. Although bringing a spiritual beast back dead is without precedent, it did not violate the rules. Therefore, I declare a pass!”
As if they had expected it to some extent, the cadets nodded while whispering.
Except for one person.
“Wow, what lax rules! The Martial Alliance is soft too!”
Namgung Cheon muttered loudly so they could hear, but keeping it strictly as a soliloquy.