Chapter 363: Chapter 363

Hefei, the provincial capital of Anhui, never went dark even late at night.

The long stretches of entertainment districts and inns were packed with drinkers deep in their cups.

Women dolled up for an evening stroll and hot-blooded young men trailing after them filled the streets until there wasn’t room to set foot.

Tonight as well, even as the hour grew late, no one was ready for sleep.

And on the foothills of nearby Mount Hwaun, there were people who couldn’t sleep for an entirely different reason.

“Huff, huff, huff, huff, huff.”

Kang Chae-seok, gasping for breath, had one thought.

‘I’m going to die.’

He stole a glance to the side.

Everywhere the firelight reached, the Captain-level figures of Taeul Sect and their junior brothers were all face-down, doing push-ups.

“HRRNGH!”

“GAAAARGH!!”

They were past the age of forty—approaching the age of fifty, when a man is said to know Heaven’s decree.

And yet here they were, groaning with bizarre noises while doing the kind of external arts training fit for children. It was enough to make one lose all sense of……

“Kang Chae-seok! You’re supposed to be Taeul Sect’s strongest, aren’t you? Is this really all you’ve got?”

A thundering rebuke crashed down, accompanied by some enormous weight pressing on his back.

The arms that had already been trembling nearly gave out entirely.

But he clenched his teeth and held on.

If he collapsed here, they’d pile rocks on his back and make him start over from the beginning.

The reason Kang Chae-seok absolutely could not fall was because the person actually enduring that very punishment was right beside him.

“……Sect Leader, are you all right?”

His face was flushed so red it looked ready to burst. When Kang Chae-seok asked cautiously, a reply came even through the strain.

“Captain Kang.”

“Yes.”

“Shut up.”

“……”

Having said that, Hong Mun-gi’s arms bent downward once more.

His trembling form was pitiful beyond words.

‘Shit, how did it come to this?’

It started with Kang Yu-seong.

After the boy went to the Murong Clan as an exchange disciple and received personal instruction from Murong Gang, his breakthroughs accelerated dramatically through the secret manuals Taeul Sect had recovered—until there was no one left who could teach him.

The only option was So-un, but the boy was running himself ragged at the Murim Academy thousands of li away.

They could hardly call him back for a disciple’s training when they couldn’t even help with what he was doing there.

At least during an Academy recess, Jin So-un had visited and asked Baek Hae-gwang to personally instruct Kang Yu-seong. When Hong Mun-gi approved, the issue of Yu-seong’s education was resolved for the time being.

But that created a different problem.

Thanks to Jin So-un’s teachings, Kang Yu-seong’s attainments had effectively surpassed every Captain except Kang Chae-seok.

‘No, seriously, what happened to that kid?’

Their meager talents were nothing compared to Kang Yu-seong’s, that was true.

But they’d lived decades of life. If a boy not yet twenty surpassed them in attainment, what would become of their dignity as the sect’s elders?

‘We couldn’t show our faces.’

To make matters worse, Yu-seong had a gift for teaching as well.

Their group training sessions became study sessions, and those study sessions led to even higher attainment.

And so the explosive growth of Taeul Sect’s young disciples continued.

‘Good lord, why is our sect so blessed with talented disciples?!’

The Captains couldn’t stop smiling, but a boulder sat heavy on their hearts.

If they let their guard down even slightly, the other young disciples might overtake the Captains’ attainment before long.

And around that time, Sect Leader Hong Mun-gi began to feel a deep sense of crisis.

“The atmosphere in the martial world is far from ordinary.”

With the formation of the Black Thought Alliance, the power of Black Path sects was steadily expanding.

Threatened by the Black Path’s growth, Orthodox Path sects were making reckless expansions of their own to project strength.

Under these circumstances, fights and skirmishes large and small erupted across the martial world day after day.

Taeul Sect may have sealed its gates, but it couldn’t be guaranteed safety forever.

“It may be unavoidable that the children surpass us in attainment, but when the moment of crisis arrives, we as their masters cannot cower behind our own disciples, can we?”

Hong Mun-gi’s words struck the Captains with a heavy sense of responsibility.

“Therefore, I intend to ask the Great Hero Baek for his help.”

“Th-that’s absurd……! You can’t be serious, Sect Leader!”

The Captains were horrified at the idea of their sect leader receiving instruction from a figure of the Black Path martial world.

Hong Mun-gi’s face hardened with fury at the sight of them.

“Would you let your pride prevent you from shouldering the responsibilities that truly matter?!”

“……”

The man who had always been gentle and compassionate now thundered at his junior brothers.

“Why does So-un risk his life and charge into danger every single time?! Do you think the Gold-Silver-Copper Brothers got into the Academy because of some outstanding talent?!”

“……”

“Take a good look at yourselves right now! The clothes you’re wearing, every meal you eat—all of it contains the blood and sweat those children shed. Can you honestly say those clothes sit comfortably on your backs? Does the food go down easily?!”

Not one person in the meeting room could raise their head.

“The Great Heaven Merchant Guild’s influence is growing, and Jin Tae-san is struggling under the pressure. If enemies threaten the Great Heaven Merchant Guild, will you hide behind the children?!”

“……”

“If you won’t do it, then I’ll do it alone!”

There was no further debate.

No—no one could raise an objection.

Grow stronger, or die.

The brutal truth of the martial world, known since time immemorial, had come knocking at their door.

The problem was whether Baek Hae-gwang would actually agree to teach them.

“……Let me think about it.”

As expected, Baek Hae-gwang was reluctant.

Although he was staying at Taeul Sect as a guest retainer, he could hardly be expected to freely offer instruction to people who were essentially strangers.

But Hong Mun-gi wouldn’t back down easily.

Though Baek Hae-gwang carried the stigma of the Black Path, his conduct during his time at Taeul Sect had resembled that of a gentleman—quite unlike his reputation.

Hong Mun-gi also knew that Baek Hae-gwang’s heart was softer than it appeared, and that he’d occasionally been sneaking instruction to Yu-seong out of sympathy.

Knowing this, Hong Mun-gi pleaded with him once more.

It was a brazen request that might earn scorn, but Hong Mun-gi was that desperate.

“At this rate…… our sect may need to worry about its very survival. So please…… I beg of you, Great Hero Baek.”

The sect leader of an entire sect, bowing his head in supplication.

Baek Hae-gwang let out a quiet sigh.

A stretch of silence followed.

Had his sincerity reached him? In the end, Baek Hae-gwang relented.

“As it happens, that bra—…… ahem, that boy Jin So-un did hint to me about this. If you don’t mind my shortcomings, I’ll help in whatever way I can.”

“Thank you, Great Hero Baek!”

And so, Baek Hae-gwang became the martial arts master to Taeul Sect’s elders.

“I agonized over this quite a bit. How much of Taeul Sect’s martial arts I should be allowed to see……”

This had been the greatest concern since Taeul Sect first made the request.

As their martial arts master, what Baek Hae-gwang needed to teach was ultimately Taeul Sect’s own martial arts. But they could hardly reveal their sect’s techniques freely to an outsider.

On the other hand, openly showing suspicion toward someone they’d asked to teach them?

That was never going to sit well.

But.

“Hm…… actually, I don’t think you need to worry about that for now.”

Surprisingly, Baek Hae-gwang was unfazed.

“I’m sorry? What do you……”

“It wouldn’t be right for an outsider like me to freely peruse Taeul Sect’s martial arts. So rather than that, I suggest we proceed by having you study the Taeul True Scripture and bring any questions to me. It’ll be slower, but you’ll climb higher.”

“……”

“Even so, don’t worry. I’ll pass on whatever modest insights I’ve gathered through my own life.”

He’d identified exactly the point that might make the other party uncomfortable and addressed it preemptively, and then offered to share his own most precious attainments on top of it.

The people of Taeul Sect, who had looked down on him as a figure of the Black Path, wept tears of remorse.

“There is, however, one favor I’d like to ask.”

A request from this man—they’d grant anything short of handing over Taeul Sect itself.

“Please, speak freely.”

Starting with the Sect Leader, everyone nodded eagerly in an unprecedented display of unity.

After a moment’s hesitation, Baek Hae-gwang broached the topic politely.

“Well…… wouldn’t it be a bit difficult to maintain formal speech between us, given that I’ll be in the position of teacher? Moreover, if you only do what’s comfortable instead of pushing beyond your limits, it can hardly be called training.”

Everyone understood immediately what Baek Hae-gwang was saying.

Hong Mun-gi nodded even more vigorously.

“In terms of skill and seniority in the martial world, it’s only natural. Please treat us however you see fit. No—just grind us into the dirt.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

“We look forward to your guidance. Ha ha ha!”

“Likewise, I look forward to working with you. Ha ha ha!”

And so, once the sun set over Hefei, training began on Mount Hwaun.

“YOU BASTARDS WON’T SHAPE UP!!!”

……Something was off.

“Huh? That’s your answer? You think this is a vacation?”

“……”

“What? Inner arts training? You haven’t even laid the foundation and you’re trying to put up the rafters? Get your ass to the summit of Mount Hwaun, NOW!!!”

The gentlemanly Baek Hae-gwang had vanished without a trace, replaced by an instructor from hell who drove the Captains to the brink of death.

“Basics, basics, basics! The basics aren’t there! Whether you’re Peak or Transcendent Peak, you need roots that go just as deep if you want to advance!”

“Breakthroughs? What are you going to do with a breakthrough? Your body won’t move—it’s like a rotting tree stump.”

“What?? The Five Dragons Offering the Sage stages? Ha! I was wondering why Jin So-un was such a lunatic—turns out the insane mindset runs in the whole sect!”

Grueling external arts training and forms practice until every drop of energy was wrung out.

And once they were completely drained, sparring sessions against Baek Hae-gwang.

Even Kang Chae-seok, who’d been through his share of hardship at the Murim Alliance, could barely endure the relentless intensity.

“When the roots go deep, the tree grows tall. The reason you couldn’t figure out the method before was because your roots weren’t deep enough!”

“Oh, would you look at that crap? ‘Balance of internal and external arts,’ my ass. That’s exactly why neither your inner arts nor your outer arts amount to anything!”

“Then what should you do? Roll until you die! No—just die! Don’t worry about it, just die!”

Baek Hae-gwang was true to his word, pushing them to the absolute extreme of extremes.

The training intensity was so severe that people began passing out.

“Don’t worry. I’ve already worked things out with the King of Hell.”

But the moment Baek Hae-gwang gave a brief massage and pressed a few acupoints, their eyes snapped open.

“Unngghh……”

“Gurrghk……”

Because of this, even wanting to pass out from exhaustion was no escape.

Teaching the young disciples by day and enduring this ordeal by night—before even half a month had passed, everyone began to fear for their lives.

“Sect Leader…… sir, cough! Hah…… this is too much no matter how you……”

“Ca-Captain Kang, please say something to him…… Brother Geum spent the entire day doing nothing, and yet he was gushing blood from his nose, bleeeurgh…… endlessly.”

“……Something is clearly wrong. Who in the world trains like thi……s……”

Hong Mun-gi had been about to bark at the complainers, but one look at the Captains—gaunt to the bone after just a few days—silenced him.

In truth, since he’d been the one to ask for help, he’d held his tongue. But he’d also sensed something was off.

However, a man’s word weighs a thousand gold, and a sect leader’s dignity is lofty as a great mountain. He could not retreat now.

“A man does not go back on his word! I will honor what I have spoken.”

The Captains’ shoulders, which had been rising with desperate hope, slumped.

Even so, admiration welled up for the Sect Leader who stood firm and unyielding at the fore like a great mount—

“However!”

“??”

“……I won’t stop you from going and talking to him yourselves! I absolutely! Will not! Stand in your way!!!”

“……!!!”

“Ahem……!”

The Captains felt as though the Sect Leader’s back had somehow grown very small.

Still, with the Sect Leader’s permission granted, they had to find a way to survive.

The Captains put their heads together for the sake of sheer survival.

“Going in the evening is out of the question.”

“A most astute observation. He’s the kind of dev—…… person who forces unconscious people awake and makes them run.”

“But…… without the Sect Leader stepping in, will he even listen to reason?”

Necessity is the mother of invention, as they say.

“What about going during the day?”

“During the day?”

“Yes. Well…… it seems like Master Baek’s demeanor changes drastically when he’s with his wife and daughter—his family, I mean.”

“Even so, you think the Sword Dem—…… I mean, Master Baek would actually care that much?”

“But we don’t have any other options, do we?”

It was a ludicrous idea, but with their lives hanging in the balance, people placed their hopes on even the slightest chance.

Once the decision was made, execution was swift.

With Kang Chae-seok as their representative, the Captain-level figures went to see Baek Hae-gwang.

He was having tea with his wife when he calmly received the Captains.

“Welcome.”

At the sight of Baek Hae-gwang bowing his head in polite greeting, Kang Chae-seok and the Captains were dumbfounded.

Having spent the previous night on the receiving end of profanities they’d never heard in their lives, the shock took even longer to wear off.

“Welcome. Shall I bring some tea?”

And beside him, Seop So-jeong rose with a smile as lovely as a moonflower.

How could such a refined woman be the companion of that mani—…… their master?

“Oh, n-no. We’re fine. We just came to have a brief word and then we’ll be on our way.”

“Oh, what a shame.”

Seop So-jeong’s beauty aside, what truly refused to compute was Baek Hae-gwang’s attitude.

“What brings you here?”

“……”

Had he lost his mind—…… or was this simply a different person entirely?

The demonic face illuminated by firelight was nowhere to be seen. He was smiling with the innocence of a man who’d never done a single wrong thing in his entire life.

Kang Chae-seok, suffering from cognitive dissonance, managed to bring up the main point.

“……A-ahem, the truth is, we feel the training has been a bit too harsh.”

“Oh my!”

Seop So-jeong exclaimed in surprise and chided Baek Hae-gwang.

“Darling, have you been pushing the Taeul Sect people too hard?”

The people of Taeul Sect were on pins and needles, terrified that a barrage of curses might come flying—

But unlike their flinching, Baek Hae-gwang nodded readily.

“I see…… I suppose it was too strenuous.”

They’d braced themselves for ‘You can’t even handle that?’ or ‘What kind of men hide behind a woman?’

But when Baek Hae-gwang responded with perfect reasonableness, their faces lit up with a glimmer of hope.

“Yes, Great Hero. At this rate, someone’s going to seriously hurt themselves.”

Seop So-jeong grabbed her husband’s arm and backed them up.

“Darling! If you harm the people of Taeul Sect, I won’t let it slide!”

“Hnng……”

Baek Hae-gwang was clearly on the losing end.

On top of that, he wore a genuinely troubled expression.

The people of Taeul Sect silently cheered in triumph.

And then.

“Sigh…… I’m sorry. That boy Jin So-un always endured training three times harder than what you’ve received, so I assumed that since you were the sect’s elders, you’d be able to handle at least that much.”

At Baek Hae-gwang’s words, the Captains’ bodies went rigid.

“I suppose doing that kind of training every day is unreasonable……”

Baek Hae-gwang traced the rim of his teacup and continued.

“I was curious myself, so I asked him once. Why he pushes himself that far.”

“……”

“And do you know what that boy said?”

For the first time, the people of Taeul Sect heard Jin So-un’s story—his honest feelings—through Baek Hae-gwang.

“So-un said he wanted to be strong enough to protect his people, no matter what enemy stood before him.”

“……”

“I told him that becoming the strongest in the world was no easy thing.”

The Captains bowed their heads.

Baek Hae-gwang gazed down into his teacup and let out a pale, wan smile.

“And then I thought to myself. That young boy…… he’d been suffering under the belief that no one would ever protect him.”

How deeply had Jin So-un been wounded, watching Taeul Sect’s days of humiliation unfold before his eyes?

It’s just the way things are. Everyone lives with the hand they’re dealt.

Being looked down on, being dismissed—just let it go, get on with life.

How much resentment must he have harbored toward the people who’d taught him to live a loser’s life?

The reason Jin So-un threw himself forward as if he’d burn his own life away—

It was because they, his elders, had failed to take responsibility.

“……”

“……”

Had any one of them ever thought about the disciples, or worried about Taeul Sect’s future, even half as much as Jin So-un?

They were ashamed beyond measure for having complained about a little physical discomfort.

Baek Hae-gwang went on.

“I’ll admit I pushed too hard. Looking at the current state of the martial world, there’s no telling how long this era of peace will last. The fact that each sect’s actions have only intensified since the Black Forest incident was another reason.”

His gentle words pierced deeper than the curses from the night before, leaving behind a question.

Did they truly have the right to complain of pain?

Did they truly have the right to call this suffering?

Baek Hae-gwang bowed his head.

“I was so moved by that boy’s devotion to Taeul Sect that…… I must have let my haste get the better of me. I sincerely apologize.”

Learning that Baek Hae-gwang’s relentless driving of them had come from such a place—the Captains could no longer stand idle.

No—anyone who could stand still after hearing that wasn’t human.

THUD.

“Forgive us, Great Hero Baek! Please pardon our foolishness!”

“””Please forgive us!”””

In unison, they dropped to their knees, cupped their fists in greeting, and wept at the realization of their own stupidity.

“Sob…… we’ll never complain again. Push us even harder!”

“Work us until we drop dead. Until we die—no! Even after we die, keep pushing us!!”

That night.

CLANG! CLA-CLA-CLANG!

Dozens of iron weights dropped before the people of Taeul Sect.

Hong Mun-gi, who had been quietly hoping for good news after hearing the Captains had gone to talk to Baek Hae-gwang, asked with a baffled expression.

“Wh-what is this?”

“What do you think? Iron Rings. One on each hand and foot.”

“You expect us to train wearing these?!”

“You said to push you, didn’t you? Until you die—no, even after you die, push you, didn’t you?”

“……”

Hong Mun-gi whipped his head around.

To Kang Chae-seok and the other Captains—the ones who’d gone to see Baek Hae-gwang.

His eyes demanded: What in the world happened?!

If you have mouths, then speak—

“……”

“……”

“……”

But not one of them would meet Hong Mun-gi’s gaze.

“From now on, anyone who talks back gets an extra Iron Ring.”

Hong Mun-gi looked at the sneering Baek Hae-gwang and understood.

“Ha, you whined about that little bit? And you had the nerve to time it for when my wife was around?? Do you have any idea how hard I had to work to explain things to her?!”

They’d poked the wrong bear. By a very, very wide margin.

And.

“From this moment on, consider yourselves dead! You worthless mutts!!!”

He should have stopped those damn Captains while he still could.