Chapter 318: Chapter 318

It took less than half a day for the Jin So-un incident to spread across the entire Academy.

Compared to the three or four days it took for rumors like “so-and-so is seeing so-and-so” to circulate, everyone agreed that this incident was extraordinarily explosive.

Reactions split in two.

Those who’d been discontented with the sudden replacement of Instructors and their attitude toward students found it cathartic.

On the other hand, there were those who treated the assault on an Instructor as a grave matter.

The Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Clans largely fell into the latter camp.

“He’s gone too far this time—attacking an Instructor, of all things!”

“This can’t be overlooked, can it?”

“Of course not! But…… how exactly do we make an issue of it?”

The reason their indignation had suddenly gone mute was not solely because of the authority the Representative position held.

It was the fact that the new Instructor was at Hall Master level.

And that Jin So-un had crushed that Hall Master-level Instructor with inner arts, making him cough blood.

“Good heavens……”

There were precious few who could even hold their own against a Hall Master in an inner arts contest, let alone overpower one.

Having witnessed such a display, the students concluded that confronting Jin So-un at their level was out of the question.

“We need to tell the Instructors…… the Instructors and Training Masters!”

“Yes, yes! With teaching authority trampled this badly, how can anyone receive an education?”

“But…… it was a fair inner arts contest. Can that really be considered a problem?”

This was precisely why the Academic Affairs Office had not immediately intervened despite the Instructor’s injuries.

It had been, by all accounts, a fair inner arts contest.

And the one who’d picked the fight first was the Instructor.

You couldn’t very well reprimand a skilled student for being skilled.

But since the injured Instructor belonged to Qingcheng Sect, the Nine Sects and Five Great Clans members couldn’t sit idle.

Jin So-un, already a thorn in their eyes, had now humiliated one of their seniors. They couldn’t just stand by and watch.

“Shouldn’t we at least notify the seniors in the Murim Alliance? Then they’ll……”

“Those seniors already came to discipline him and got knocked down instead, didn’t they? What’s bringing even higher-ranked seniors going to accomplish?”

“……The hell? What’s your problem? You’ve been spouting nonsense this whole time.”

“I’m just being objective about the situation……”

Their tempers remained unsoothed, but with no immediate means to deal with Jin So-un, the matter inevitably trickled into the Murim Alliance whether the students wanted it to or not.

***

“Oh, my head……”

Buk Won-pyeong pressed his temples hard.

“How can you sit there frowning in front of such fine tea……”

It went without saying that the source of this headache was the very person sitting across from him, calmly sipping tea.

Buk Won-pyeong almost laughed in disbelief.

“Is that actually going down your throat?”

“……You keep excellent tea, Academy Head.”

“I asked if that’s going down your throat!”

Unable to contain his frustration, Buk Won-pyeong reached out to snatch the teacup away.

But Jin So-un nimbly dodged with his cup.

‘Look at this kid.’

Buk Won-pyeong deployed the Taecheong Subduing Hand and reached out again.

But.

TAP, TAP-TAP.

Jin So-un lightly deflected his hand with casual motions, guarding his teacup.

‘My word……’

What kind of seizing art was the Taecheong Subduing Hand?

It was the very technique that had instantly subdued the Floating-Kill Claw Art—the notorious Black Path claw art.

Yet this young man, barely past the age of twenty, had blocked the Taecheong Subduing Hand without any special technique.

And was sitting there drinking his tea as if nothing had happened.

“Nngh……”

Buk Won-pyeong had once given Jin So-un private instruction and discovered during the process that the young man wielded a considerable amount of inner arts.

‘Though I had no idea it was this absurdly vast.’

But judging by that casual deflection just now, Jin So-un had progressed yet again since the last time he’d checked.

Jin So-un sat there savoring his tea, watching him with eyes that gleamed bright as a madman’s.

Staring back at that face, Buk Won-pyeong thought of those idiot Instructors.

They should have sized up their target first. ……Even a blind man could see this wasn’t someone you provoked.

It wasn’t just a matter of inner arts.

That single deflection told the whole story. His understanding of martial principles had already surpassed the Hall Master level.

If they’d challenged him to a martial duel, they’d have been pounded into paste. If they’d tried to pressure him with theory, they’d have struggled just as badly.

‘If they’d picked on his attitude, or his expression, maybe……’

Before he knew it, Buk Won-pyeong had been channeling the Instructors, brainstorming ways to break Jin So-un. He caught himself and grimaced.

This kid had walked into the Academy alongside Black Path thugs from the very start.

What good would it do to provoke someone with nothing to lose?

“Haah……”

“As I’ve said repeatedly, the Instructor started it……”

“Shut it.”

No need to hear more of the obvious.

“Yes, sir! Shutting it.”

“……”

But seeing that impish smirk, he simply couldn’t let it go.

Determined to see at least a frown, Buk Won-pyeong pressed on.

“Do you realize you have no idea what consequences this may bring?”

“What consequences?”

“You could be craftily given low scores. You might not receive any recommendation letters from Instructors. That could mean you don’t get assigned to the pavilion you want.”

But Jin So-un continued leisurely savoring his tea’s aroma and replied.

“But if you place in the top ten, you’re automatically assigned wherever you want, aren’t you? Just like the current Dragon and Phoenix Assembly members.”

“Hah, you think you’ll make the top ten?”

“Every evaluation I’ve received so far has been in the highest tier. No matter how poorly I’m rated, I won’t fall outside the top ten.”

“……”

They said the world was inherently fair.

If you had a bad head, you had a good body. And if you had a good body, your head was usually lacking.

So why was this wretched kid sharp enough to make such calculations on the spot?

“Hehe, thank you for the compliment.”

“……I didn’t say anything!”

“That expression just now. It’s the face people make when praise is being ripped from an enemy’s lips.”

Buk Won-pyeong drew a long breath and stared at the ceiling.

How on earth was he supposed to get through to this kid?

One of the three great misfortunes in life was rising too high too young.

Those intoxicated by their inborn genius, who lived forgetting how vast the world was and how terrifying the heavens could be.

They soared higher than anyone—then a single misstep sent them plummeting without end.

Buk Won-pyeong didn’t want Jin So-un to fall.

But at the same time, he knew the boy would inevitably fall in the end.

And so, the brighter he shone, the more Buk Won-pyeong worried.

“Listen carefully. The Instructors and Training Masters may use far more underhanded and dirtier methods to entrap you than you expect. No—going forward, they certainly will.”

Just as he himself, and all the brilliant seniors who’d shone alone before him, had experienced.

Before the long span of five hundred years, exceptional genius was nothing more than a brief flicker.

“If they can’t get to you, they’ll drag your juniors in. If your juniors aren’t enough, they’ll go after your sect and your friends.”

“……”

“Of course, the first few who challenge you might fall. But while you can’t be replaced and must keep fighting them, they’ll keep rotating fresh people in to torment you.”

At least for himself, those ordeals had only begun after he’d entered the Murim Alliance. For Jin So-un, they were starting at the Academy.

“This unjust structure has not been broken once in the past five hundred years.”

An egg crashing against a boulder.

No matter how many attempts were made, an egg could never break a boulder.

Had the boy finally grasped reality?

The grin vanished from Jin So-un’s face, replaced by a cold sneer.

“……If that’s the case.”

At least to Buk Won-pyeong’s eyes, this was already a vast improvement over the face he’d been wearing moments ago.

At least there was some degree of reality sinking…….

“I should just quit the Academy.”

Hm? What kind of novel idea was that?

“Quit? But you’ll end up back in mandatory service anyway……”

“There’d be no choice. If they harass us that badly, I’ll take every Taeul Sect member serving in the Alliance—myself and the juniors included—and return to Taeul Sect.”

As expected, the blood of youth still ran hot.

Buk Won-pyeong was clicking his tongue at Jin So-un’s foolish answer when something struck him as odd.

“……Taeul Sect doesn’t have any ranking officials active in the Murim Alliance, does it?”

“True, if we count only the inner disciples. But if we include Lay Disciples, there’s one.”

“……”

Jin So-un’s gaze, which had been fixed on his teacup, rose to meet Buk Won-pyeong’s directly.

Blink, blink.

Buk Won-pyeong’s eyes blinked with the lazy slowness of an ox.

What? Why was that kid looking at……

“……Don’t tell me. Me?”

“Yes.”

“You insane……!”

“If someone of the Three Pure Ones Peerless Sword’s caliber withdrew from the Murim Alliance, they’d have to show some restraint, wouldn’t they?”

He’d known the boy wasn’t in his right mind, but he hadn’t realized it went this far.

Buk Won-pyeong’s face flushed as he shouted.

“Wh-what if I refuse?”

“You can’t. Our junior disciple may be older than me, but the Eldest Senior Brother’s orders in Taeul Sect are ‘absolute.'”

Goddamn it, nobody told him that when he signed on as a Lay Disciple!

“It should have been in the paperwork. You didn’t read it? That’s why you should check documents carefully before stamping your seal.”

He’d never stamped a seal on any paperwork!

Jin So-un’s cold sneer softened back into his usual crescent-moon grin.

“In any case, please ‘do your best’ so things don’t come to that, my dear junior disciple.”

Back to the usual playful Jin So-un.

And seeing that, Buk Won-pyeong felt a measure of relief.

It meant Jin So-un properly understood the very concerns he’d raised.

Still, Buk Won-pyeong asked once more.

“So as long as Academy life goes smoothly, I won’t have to leave the Murim Alliance with you. Is that right?”

“Of course.”

Buk Won-pyeong let out a long sigh.

Then it occurred to him that the boy’s heavy-handedness with the Instructor might not have been a purely emotional response after all.

A reasonable suspicion: he’d been confident he could wriggle free, so he’d deliberately hit hard.

“Did you do it on purpose?”

Jin So-un readily admitted it.

“To some extent.”

“Why go that far?”

Taeul Sect was already steadily building its strength.

If he hid his power and climbed steadily, he would surely achieve his goals eventually.

But by butting heads this early, the road ahead would only grow harder.

Yet not a shred of fear could be found on Jin So-un’s face.

“Because I’ve already become a target.”

“……”

“If they’re willing to come at us this blatantly, things would only get harder to endure going forward.”

That distinctive cold smile reappeared.

“And Taeul Sect has already become too sharp a thorn for them to ignore.”

“……”

Had the short-sighted one actually been himself?

“……Right. You’ve already prepared for that as well, I take it.”

What on earth was inside that kid’s head?

Rising too high too young?

He was not some being who coasted on inborn talent, ignorant of the world and its dangers.

He understood the world and had begun boldly displaying his name within its cracks.

Of his own volition.

If that was the case, then Buk Won-pyeong’s words—whether scolding or advice—no longer held meaning.

“Fine. I’ll use my influence to handle the Academy matters, so don’t worry.”

All he could do was provide what help he could.

……Well, after all, to his youngest junior disciple, he was still the dignified Eldest Senior Brother.

***

Leaving the Academy Head’s office, I was walking toward the Representative’s office when I stopped dead.

‘I’m screwed.’

So focused on the blade at my throat, I hadn’t thought ahead to the Murim Alliance.

Once the juniors graduated, being assigned across the Alliance was inevitable.

‘I can’t believe I forgot about that……’

Now that we’d drawn attention, they’d never let us stay together.

‘And if they want to crush us, it’s much easier to scatter us first and pick us off one by one.’

In my previous life, Taeul Sect had been such a worthless third-rate bunch that nobody cared if we clustered together. But the situation now was different.

Damn, why did those bastards have to pick a fight and cause all this……

I cursed the Instructors and Training Masters up one side and down the other, then shook it off.

This would have happened eventually even if I’d held back.

No—this actually worked out better.

Rather than being together from the start and getting scattered when war broke out, it was better to work separately and then come together when the wartime units were formed.

‘Right, this is definitely for the better. Definitely.’

The problem was how to handle the juniors being bullied in their separate units.

‘This is a real mess.’

They’d have to follow the internal ranks and regulations of their respective pavilions.

Inter-unit communication or interference would be forbidden in principle.

Which meant I could no longer protect the children of Taeul Sect under my wing.

Unless I earned some kind of meteoric promotion and pulled rank to override everything.

But physical time had its limits.

I needed to think of a way to protect the kids before then.

Hmm, what if…… hm?

‘Wait…… do I even need to protect them?’

Once I entered the White Wolf Pavilion, I’d be swamped with the work I was assigned.

Turning a unit of hopeless dregs into a proper force wouldn’t leave me time to look after each junior individually.

In the end, it came down to whether the juniors took beatings in their assigned posts—like the old me—or not.

‘Then they just need to not get beaten.’

We’d recovered Grand Patriarch’s martial arts, and they’d taken the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Oil to address the weakness in inner arts that had always been pointed out.

The greatest benefit of Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Oil was stabilizing the qi center.

Having taken both the Calm Heart Pill and the Oil, their bodies could handle most spiritual medicines without issue.

‘The quantity of inner arts can be solved at the Academy event in half a year……’

With both inner arts and martial arts in hand, there’d be no reason to get beaten.

A weak sect was a weak sect—nothing to be done about that. But if the individuals were strong, superiors would find it hard to push subordinates around.

They’d still receive some unfair orders, but if even that didn’t happen and they lived in comfort, I’d be the resentful one.

Do they have any idea how much I suffered in my previous life—?!

“Where are you coming from?”

“Hm? Ahem.”

Sa-ryeon, about to enter the Representative’s office, spotted me and asked.

I answered casually.

“Just came from meeting the Academy Head.”

“Is it…… resolved?”

I gave a firm nod.

“Really?”

Sa-ryeon’s eyes said she didn’t quite believe me.

Ahem, why had trust in the Eldest Senior Brother fallen so low?

“Not just the Academy matters—I’ve also solved the problem of what the juniors might face in the Murim Alliance.”

“Huh? R-really? The Academy Head said he’d handle it?”

“No!”

“……”

“I came up with the solution myself.”

Sa-ryeon asked with an anxious expression.

“Wh-what is it?”

No solution in the world was more certain than this.

Absolutely none.

I looked at Sa-ryeon and curled my lips upward.

“You all get incredibly, impossibly strong.”

“……”

“Strong enough to handle anything, no matter what your superiors try to do!”

“……”

Sa-ryeon’s brow furrowed deeply.

This was unmistakably her “I really, really hate this!” face.

“Junior Sister Ryeon, why the long face?”

This was a genuinely solid solution, though.