Chapter 5: Chapter 5
While the preliminary exams were being conducted across the country.
‘Grading’ was being carried out on the applicants who had passed the exam first and entered the Alliance.
It was in order to form mission teams fitting fairness in the upcoming secondary exam.
It was an examination evaluating the basic qualities one had to possess as a martial artist, such as skeletal structure, lightness art, dynamic visual acuity, internal energy, and external arts.
For skeletal structure, examiners literally kneaded here and there on the candidate’s body. Considering the innate thickness of bones, length of limbs, width of shoulders, length of fingers, and so forth, they assigned one grade among First, Second, Third, or Fourth.
Song Yi-yeon, whose turn had come, stood with a tense look. His examiner in charge of skeletal structure was Zhuge Rin.
“I look forward to your kind guidance.”
“Yes, well…”
Putting on a reluctant expression, Zhuge Rin reached out her fair hand.
Candidates assigned to other evaluators looked at that Song Yi-yeon with envious expressions.
However, Song Yi-yeon wore an unaffected expression even at the touch of a woman as beautiful as Zhuge Rin.
It was because of the unique characteristics of his martial art.
Zhuge Rin, who had been feeling all over Song Yi-yeon for quite a while, let out a deep sigh and spoke.
“Applicant Song Yi-yeon, First Class…”
Song Yi-yeon, having received the wooden plaque inscribed with ‘First’, smiled brightly.
“Is my receiving First Class something to sigh over like that?”
“How could it be?”
Though she spoke thus, Zhuge Rin’s expression remained reluctant.
Song Yi-yeon waved two other wooden plaques before Zhuge Rin in addition to the wooden plaque he had just received.
They were wooden plaques received after finishing the internal energy and lightness art evaluations, all inscribed with ‘First’.
Nearby applicants looked at Song Yi-yeon with envious eyes.
“That person will become the most famous this year.”
“He’s already famous. Look at that face. Rumor has it his name has spread not only among applicants, but even among Martial Alliance members. In all honesty, if he’s that handsome, shouldn’t his talent at least fall short?”
“Argh, please let him be small down there.”
Somehow, Song Yi-yeon had become public enemy number one among the male applicants. Regardless, right when Song Yi-yeon was thoroughly enjoying the envy and jealousy of those around him with a pleased face.
KABOOM!
Along with a tremendous explosion, cheers and exclamations burst out wildly from applicants over there.
Naturally, Song Yi-yeon and Zhuge Rin’s gazes also turned toward that place.
“Whoa, insane!”
“Who is that again?”
“Don’t know, but they say it’s all ‘First Class’?”
At the place where everyone’s attention was focused, a man stood with a serene expression, and at his feet, gray powder was sprinkled placidly.
The final evaluation of the grading, external arts.
One simply had to destroy a boulder far larger than the torso of an ordinary adult male, using any means and methods.
Song Yi-yeon burst into scoffing laughter and spoke.
“It’s Young Hero Cheon Woo-jin. Told him to break a boulder, and he went and pulverized it into powder…”
What was even more astonishing was that what was held in his hand was not the pitch-black iron staff he always carried on his back, but a white fan.
A middle-aged examiner who approached Cheon Woo-jin spoke with a somewhat dazed face.
“May I ask just one question?”
“Yes, well…”
“It would have been advantageous to smash it with the staff strapped to your back, so what was the reason for deliberately using the Crane Feather Fan?”
“Because it seemed fun.”
“…Right.”
At Cheon Woo-jin’s calm answer, the examiner let out an empty laugh.
It certainly was fun. Originally, a fan was not a weapon meant for external arts. Yet, this rising talent struck it with a thwack using a fan, and the boulder shattered completely into pieces just like that.
It was a spectacle that even he, who had rolled around the Martial Alliance for as long as one could, had never seen even once.
The middle-aged examiner stared intently at Cheon Woo-jin’s face as if determined to remember it, then handed over a wooden plaque inscribed with ‘First’.
“Congratulations. You received First Class in all categories. Has it been about twenty years since this happened?”
The Martial Alliance’s grading was quite ruthless.
Receiving First Class in three categories was called a talent, four was a genius, and receiving First Class in all five was considered the Celestial Martial Physique.
Because it was a talent capable of reaching the pinnacle of whatever martial art one practiced.
In the several-hundred-year history of the Martial Alliance selection examinations, martial artists who had received First Class in every category numbered merely five individuals.
The most recent was a man who had appeared like a comet twenty-three years ago and currently exercised the greatest influence over the entire Righteous Path martial world.
Martial Alliance Leader Bukli Cheon.
Recalling his name, the rising talents and examiners looked at Cheon Woo-jin with peculiar expressions.
However, Cheon Woo-jin merely scratched his head at the sudden attention.
It was then.
BOOOOOM!
On one side, a truly tremendous roar erupted.
Boulder fragments split into hundreds of pieces surged in all directions like hidden weapons.
Nearby instructors hurriedly blocked them.
Soon, the thick dust cleared, and a man of massive build who had smashed the boulder revealed himself.
A rising talent clad in elegant silk robes, in contrast to a menacing impression that made one wonder if he was the leader of the Unorthodox Path.
Dusting off the stone chips clinging to his fist the size of a pot lid, he was somehow glaring at Cheon Woo-jin.
“G-Gu Jin-seok. First Class.”
A young evaluator handed over the wooden plaque while reading his mood.
Gu Jin-seok, who took the wooden plaque without even giving a glance, glared at Cheon Woo-jin and moved his steps.
Thud, thud.
An enormous frame and a distinct, savage aura.
Due to an atmosphere far too rough for a rising talent of the Righteous Path, those gathered in the area grew tense of their own accord.
However, Cheon Woo-jin merely watched him steadily approach with an emotionless face.
Soon, Gu Jin-seok, having approached right before his nose, looked down at Cheon Woo-jin. Cheon Woo-jin was also taller than ordinary men, but Gu Jin-seok was a giant to the extent of easily being two heads taller than even Cheon Woo-jin.
Gu Jin-seok spoke in a thick voice befitting his build.
“Cheon Woo-jin. A name I’ve never even heard of.”
It was an overt provocation. The applicants also knew that fact, and the instructors even deliberated whether they should intervene.
However, Cheon Woo-jin did not know. Basically, a provocation began with intimidating the opponent, but first of all, he did not feel any sense of threat at all.
Cheon Woo-jin scratched his cheek with his index finger, then spoke.
“Do you go around memorizing the names of all the people in the world?”
“…At least, if you were a master who could receive ‘First Class’ in all categories without even being a rising talent of the Five Great Clans or the Nine Great Sects and One Clan, you would have already been famous.”
Gu Jin-seok continued speaking as if to let the other applicants hear.
“Has anyone here ever heard the name Cheon Woo-jin?”
Naturally, there was no one.
Since Cheon Woo-jin had only recently descended from the mountain.
Gu Jin-seok, observing people’s reactions, burst into a smirk.
“Could it be you’re a disciple secretly raised in the deep mountains by some great master?”
Naturally, it was a sarcastic remark. Because it was the kind of nonsensical talk that would only come out of martial arts tales. In reality, the vast majority of masters who led the world were people with solid backings.
However, Cheon Woo-jin looked at Gu Jin-seok with a genuinely surprised face and fiddled with the Crescent Moon Staff behind his back.
‘How did he know?’
Confronted with that expression, Gu Jin-seok let out an empty laugh.
“We’ll find out in due time. Whether you are a new hero, or a spy infiltrated with a purpose from another group.”
Naturally, Gu Jin-seok emphasized the latter.
Because an unknown rising talent whose name and face were never heard of had suddenly demonstrated an astonishing achievement, he was arguing that realistically, the possibility of the latter was high.
On the other hand, it was also a statement framing Cheon Woo-jin as a spy, so Song Yi-yeon, who was listening to this, flared up and stepped forward.
The moment Song Yi-yeon had just taken a step.
“No really, that bastard…”
A small shadow brushed past the side of such a Song Yi-yeon. Song Yi-yeon looked at Zhuge Rin’s back with a dumbfounded face.
Zhuge Rin, who strode over to Gu Jin-seok with rough footsteps, spoke.
“Applicant Gu Jin-seok. What do you think you are doing right now?”
“I was merely sharing a few words among fellow rising talents.”
At that brazen attitude, Zhuge Rin narrowed her brows.
‘Is he a punk with some tremendous backing?’
Unlike his appearance, he was indeed wearing quite expensive-looking clothes. Of course, it was merely absurd, but his background could not oppress Zhuge Rin.
Because she, too, was a Vice Squad Leader of the Martial Alliance, and a member of the Zhuge Clan, one of the Five Great Clans of the Righteous Path.
“Is this just a conversation? Anyone can see you’re picking a fight. Is the Martial Alliance that easy to you?”
“I am merely presenting reasonable suspicion.”
“Ah, that spy thing or whatever? So you’re saying the Martial Alliance is an organization incapable of properly vetting a single applicant?”
“…”
Gu Jin-seok shut his mouth.
Even Gu Jin-seok, who came from quite a respectable household, was born with remarkable martial talent, and lived haughtily with a distinct rough temperament, could not openly disparage the Martial Alliance.
Zhuge Rin, who glared at Gu Jin-seok, spoke to Cheon Woo-jin.
“Why is Applicant Cheon Woo-jin just standing there listening? You could refute him or simply leave the spot.”
“Why should I?”
“Huh?”
Zhuge Rin spoke cautiously.
“Applicant Gu Jin-seok is threatening you right now, isn’t he?”
“Threatening?”
Cheon Woo-jin blinked his eyes.
He roughly knew that he was picking a fight, but that was because it wasn’t particularly threatening.
And above all else…
“My master told me not to mess with the weak carelessly.”
Having spoken thus, Cheon Woo-jin pointed at the five wooden plaques hanging at Gu Jin-seok’s waist.
Four Firsts and one Second.
It was Gu Jin-seok, who had received Second Class solely in the lightness art evaluation.
It was truly a talent worthy of being called a genius, but to Cheon Woo-jin, he was nothing more and nothing less than a clumsy fellow due to his massive build.
Toward Zhuge Rin, who wore a dumbfounded expression, Cheon Woo-jin spoke.
“At any rate, it seems a commotion is occurring because of me, so I will go wait in the temporary quarters. My evaluation just ended anyway.”
“…Ah, right.”
Zhuge Rin nodded with a dazed face.
It was the same for the other instructors and applicants watching the commotion.
In the midst of that, Song Yi-yeon snickered and burst into laughter.
“Whoa, did that giant know? That after receiving four Firsts, he’d be treated like a weakling.”
At those words, the applicants nearby burst into laughter.
Regardless of what kind of person Cheon Woo-jin was, it was because the fact that Gu Jin-seok, who had just caused a disturbance, got taken down a peg felt strangely gratifying.
Leaving all that behind, Cheon Woo-jin thought as he headed toward the quarters.
‘Should I just find the person quickly and leave?’
Originally, he had no intention of settling down in the Martial Alliance.
It was just that because Master White Elder had set things up to this extent, he felt sorry to ignore it completely, so he had intended to at least take the exam for now.
However, it felt as though tiresome matters would continue to occur.
‘Especially that fellow Gu Jin-seok will cause an incident sometime…’
It was then.
A fierce momentum was felt from behind.
Cheon Woo-jin turned around casually. The massive Gu Jin-seok was openly exuding killing intent. He looked ready to charge at any moment, and the instructors in the vicinity were on guard against his erratic behavior.
– “Woo-jin, a martial artist must protect the weak.”
– “There is no need to go as far as protecting them, but those who deliberately pick on the weak are not villains, but idiots.”
These were words his two masters always said.
However, on one particular day, the conversation flowed in a different direction.
– “However, if the opponent is a martial artist who overestimates his own strength without legitimate reason and oppresses you, Woo-jin, the story changes even if he is weak.”
– “Why are you babbling explanations for such bastards instead of slaughtering them without a second thought?”
White Elder always had many worries.
He wanted to teach Cheon Woo-jin virtue, but was concerned that after the two masters departed, there would be those who took advantage of his disciple’s disposition.
Just as Black Elder had said, not everyone in the world was a villain, but that did not mean everyone was a virtuous person either.
After a long and harsh debate with Black Elder, White Elder succeeded in reaching a single conclusion.
– “If there is a martial artist who exudes killing intent even though you have done no wrong, Woo-jin, it can be said that he falls under the category of a villain.”
– “Bwahahaha. Right, for such bastards, smashing their heads in brings the true flavor.”
Cheon Woo-jin, who recalled his masters’ conversation for a moment, stared blankly at Gu Jin-seok.
His killing intent was tickling his neck.
It was not particularly threatening, but if left like this, it was obvious that things would become annoying in the future as well.
Since his masters’ words had aligned for once…
Cheon Woo-jin drew the Crescent Moon Staff from behind his back.
At the same time, the surrounding air settled heavily.
Even though he merely stood still with the pitch-black staff dangling downward, Cheon Woo-jin’s presence weighed down upon the entire martial arts training ground like thick fog settling at night.
Even the instructors swallowed their saliva.
Even Zhuge Rin, watching this, raised her energy slightly without realizing it.
‘…He became an entirely different person.’
Cheon Woo-jin strode forward with heavy footsteps.
Until he arrived before Gu Jin-seok, no one could step forward to block his path.