Chapter 114
Prestigious Sects of the Nine Great Sects and One Alliance like the Zhongnan Sect do not just accept disciples anytime or in any way.
To enter the Zhongnan Sect, one naturally had to have talent for Martial Arts, and even with talent, one could not enter if one missed the right time.
But right now, the Zhongnan Sect Leader was ignoring all those rules and asking if I wanted to become a Direct Disciple right away.
He really must have hated the Mount Hua Sect quite a bit.
Or maybe not. Maybe he just really liked me for teaching the Mount Hua Sect a lesson.
Whatever the reason, the Sect Leader’s current proposal was truly unprecedented.
“The current Zhongnan Sect needs a talent like you.”
“…”
The Sect Leader’s words revealed the utmost sincerity.
‘If it were anyone else, they would have accepted the Sect Leader’s proposal without asking any questions.’
But naturally, my answer was…
“…I am sorry.”
…a rejection.
Because he was not expecting my refusal, the Zhongnan Sect Leader’s eyes widened as he asked.
“…May I ask the reason?”
Fuck, how could a Stronghold Master of the Green Forest enter as a Direct Disciple of the Zhongnan Sect?
Of course, I couldn’t just say the answer that popped into my head, so I had to rack my brain for a moment.
And soon enough, I was able to come up with a Righteous Faction-esque answer.
“…It is because I am already a Disciple of Jongrimun.”
“…Ah.”
Hearing my words, the Zhongnan Sect Leader groaned softly for a moment. Seeing his reaction, I was sure it worked well, so I continued speaking.
“The Sect Leader’s proposal is incredibly flattering, and I am very much looking forward to the teachings I could receive in the Zhongnan Sect, but…”
“…”
“…Jongrimun is already my Sect and my Family, so I do not think I can easily leave it.”
“…I see.”
Hearing my words, the Zhongnan Sect Leader nodded heavily. Then he smiled gently and opened his mouth.
“I apologize for testing your heart due to my Personal Feelings. And do not mind what I just said too much. I simply liked you and wanted to take you in as a Disciple of the Zhongnan Sect.”
“Why would you say such a thing?”
“…Hmm?”
“I am a Disciple of Jongrimun, but I am also a Lay Disciple of the Zhongnan Sect. The scope of the Family I mentioned also includes the Zhongnan Sect.”
“…!”
“Sect Leader, please do not forget the fact that I, too, am an eternal Disciple of the Zhongnan Sect.”
“…”
As I said that and bowed my head, I didn’t hear the Zhongnan Sect Leader’s voice above my head as I had expected.
“Hmm? I thought he would say a word of praise if I put it like this?”
Feeling doubtful, I raised my head and saw…
“…Wait, Sect Leader, why…”
“…Ahem.”
…the Zhongnan Sect Leader was tearing up.
‘Why is this person’s emotional sensitivity like this…’
As I stared in bewilderment, the Zhongnan Sect Leader placed a hand on my shoulder with the Gentle smile unique to a Taoist Priest.
“…Thank you.”
“…Pardon?”
…For what?
“…Lately, the Zhongnan Sect hasn’t had a good reputation among the gossips. Because of this, I ended up feeling anxious. So I became obsessed with comparing us to the nearby Mount Hua Sect and seemed to have poured all my strength only into expanding the Zhongnan Sect.”
“…Ah, I see.”
“But I only realized it after hearing your words, that the Zhongnan Sect already has so much… Countless affiliated families and disciples have been supporting the Zhongnan Sect, so what kind of illusion have I been chasing all this time…”
What is This Old Man talking about right now…
I had just made up a few words to get out of this situation, but the Sect Leader acted all on his own, playing the drums, beating the gong, and even doing the vocals all by himself.
He looked at me with misty eyes and continued his final words.
“Thank you. Yes, you are a Disciple of the Zhongnan Sect. No matter where you are or what you do, even if you fail to perform well at the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, you are Family to the Zhongnan Sect.”
“…Thank you.”
“You may leave now.”
“…Then.”
Click.
It was only after I left the Sect Leader’s room that I could exhale my Held Breath.
“No, fuck. Why is this so Burdensome…”
I had only joined Jongrimun and the Zhongnan Sect to get an invitation to the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, but in just a few days, I had become a top-tier ace receiving love calls from the Zhongnan Sect Leader.
The way he looked at me was practically dripping with affection…
‘Don’t tell me if I run away to the Hunan Green Forest, he’ll lead all the Zhongnan Sect disciples and chase after me…?’
I couldn’t help but fall into somewhat anxious imaginings.
And rightfully so; if he showed that kind of reaction just because I swung my Sword a bit and beat up a few Mount Hua Sect lay disciples in front of him, what would happen if I won the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering?
‘Mount Zhongnan confinement, obsession, angst… It wouldn’t be something like that, right…’
When others look at me, they might think I’m strong against everyone regardless of age or gender, but the truth is, I’m a bit weak against old men like him.
“It feels like an affectionate version of my Master, so it makes me want to throw up.”
Feeling nauseous from the Zhongnan Sect Leader’s affection, I headed to my room.
* * *
One week later.
“Haaaaaam…”
I left the Lodging with the other Zhongnan Sect disciples and lay disciples early in the morning.
Just how long had it been since I smelled the outside air…
For the past week, I have been in Seclusion with Dongryong at Zhongnan’s Lodging.
It was to avoid the risk of clashing with the Mount Hua Sect Bastards and to prevent excessive rumors about Jongrimun from spreading.
Thanks to that, my stiff body felt a bit loosened up by the sunlight and cool outside air I was experiencing for the first time in a while.
Of course, that didn’t mean I stretched or openly yawned with my mouth wide open.
The current atmosphere wasn’t suited for that.
The faces of all the lined-up Zhongnan Sect disciples held a Solemn resolve. It was almost like the look of soldiers before heading out to the battlefield.
Step, step.
And in front of those disciples, the other Elders of the Zhongnan Sect and the Sect Leader walked out.
While the Elders' expressions were also heavy, only the Sect Leader’s expression was as bright as if he were going on a picnic. He stood in front of the tense Zhongnan Sect disciples and calmly opened his mouth.
“Do not be too tense. No matter the results of the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering… you are unchangingly disciples and Family of the Zhongnan Sect.”
“…”
“So show them without any burden. What kind of Sect the Zhongnan Sect is…! What kind of potential you all possess! Now, let us go and show them!”
“Waaaaaah-!!”
As soon as the Sect Leader finished speaking and raised his arm, a thunderous roar echoed from the Zhongnan Sect disciples.
From now on, the real Dragon-Phoenix Gathering begins.
* * *
After that, the place the enthusiastic Zhongnan Sect disciples headed to was the Sparring Arena prepared in advance by the Murim Alliance… or rather, a cliff on the outskirts of Anhui Province.
Other sects' guys had already arrived in front of the cliff, making it quite noisy.
Thinking we had arrived at a completely different place than he expected, Dongryong panicked and asked me via Sound Transmission.
‘Leader…! But didn’t they say the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering was about rising stars Sparring with each other? So where is this…’
“Hey, you idiot Bastard, Munseok and I talked all about it yesterday. The preliminaries are today-!”
The number of rising stars from the Righteous Faction participating in the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering alone exceeded a thousand. They couldn’t conduct one-on-one Sparring matches all at once, no matter how wide the Murim Alliance Sparring Arena was and how many there were.
So usually, they held preliminaries before the main tournament of the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering began.
Naturally, what the preliminary event would be was a secret until the day of…
“Good boy, Munseok.”
Thanks to Munseok, who was a budget Doraemon and a Superior version of the Haomun Leader, I found out what the preliminary event was.
But I had told Dongryong about it too, so I didn’t know why that Bastard was suddenly acting like that.
‘Didn’t you say they would test Internal Strength? But why a place like this…’
‘Ugh, you Bastard. We’re already here anyway, so just see for yourself with your own eyes.’
To think a Bastard like that is the Deputy Leader…
Still, I didn’t think Dongryong would fail at something as trivial as the preliminaries, so I didn’t bother explaining the preliminary round to him in detail.
Besides, it looked like they were about to start the explanation soon anyway.
Step-.
As soon as I thought that, a Martial Artist of the Murim Alliance with quite deep internal energy appeared.
“…”
“…”
When he appeared, his Aura was extraordinary, silencing this place with hundreds of people.
“Huuup.”
He then infused his voice with internal energy and shouted loudly to the assembly.
“Nice to meet you, I am Mun-Jang, the Supervisor of Test Site 'B' for the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering preliminaries-! From now on, I will explain the contents of the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering preliminaries-!”
Test Site 'B', huh…
Could there be a total of four test sites: A, B, C, and D?
No wonder when I looked around, Familiar sects didn’t really catch my eye.
For example…
“Mount Hua Sect.”
The Mount Hua Sect guys are easy to recognize because they have a Plum Blossom Pattern on their clothes. But it seemed the Mount Hua Sect had been assigned to a different test site, as the Sect was nowhere to be seen.
“I wanted to meet them once if I had the chance…”
Well… I’ll definitely meet them later as the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering progresses anyway, so it doesn’t matter.
Even while I was thinking to myself, the Supervisor continued his explanation.
“The preliminary rules are very simple. In the order I call your names, come forward to this spot and…”
But since I already knew what the preliminary contents were from Munseok, I didn’t really need to listen closely.
“…please Strike the cliff with your Fist.”
“What…?”
“Strike the cliff with a Fist…?”
Agitation spread among the participants at the unfamiliar rule, but the Supervisor firmly continued speaking.
“This cliff is full of embedded bluestone. It will be difficult to even leave a mark with an Ordinary Fist. Therefore, infuse as much Internal Strength as you can and throw your Fist. The Supervisor will determine Pass or fail based on the mark left by your Fist.”
Strictly speaking, this wasn’t just testing Internal Strength, but also the application of the Fist.
This might feel Disadvantageous to those who use swords, sabers, or other weapons, but…
In the end, what’s important to a Martial Artist is their own body before their weapon.
No matter how excellent a weapon one possesses, someone who hasn’t properly trained their own body can be considered a husk lacking the basics of a Martial Artist.
And it seemed that among the rising stars of the Righteous Faction…
Bang.
“Fail. Next.”
Bang.
“Fail. Next.”
…there were quite a lot of those husks.
Since the preliminaries began, the Supervisor called out participants like a factory machine. And about seventy percent of them failed.
Furthermore, among them…
“Fail. Next.”
“Ah…!”
…there was also a Lay Disciple of the Zhongnan Sect.
Did they say he was a Disciple of Gwanghwamun, or a Disciple of Dongdaemun?
Anyway, the Lay Disciple in front of me failed to cross the passing line and was eliminated just like that.
Almost everyone from the Zhongnan Sect had passed, but the atmosphere immediately plummeted after they produced their first failure.
And right around that time, the next one called was…
“Mu-Yeong of Jongrimun.”
…none other than me.
“Ooh, Shadowless Taoist Priest!”
“Show them the power of Jongrimun-!”
Because there had just been a failure, I stepped forward, receiving even more enthusiastic cheers.
“That guy is…”
“The famous Jongrimun these days…”
I could also feel the gazes of other sects trying to keep me in check or gauge my skills.
However, I had no intention of doing my absolute best in this preliminary round.
Even if I passed the preliminaries in first place, there was no special reward. It was obvious I would only receive more checks from others, so why bother doing my best?
From what I had seen earlier, the Supervisors gave a passing score even if the Fist only went two cun into the cliff.
“Now then, please go ahead.”
“Yes.”
I operated my Internal Strength very minutely and threw my Fist…
Baaang-!
…and my Fist went about three cun into the cliff.
“Pass. Next.”
Naturally, it was a Pass.
“Woooooah-!”
“As expected of the Shadowless Taoist Priest! As expected of the hope of the Zhongnan Sect’s lay disciples!”
When I passed, an intense reaction erupted from the Zhongnan Sect guys.
However…
“What, is that all?”
“He barely passed.”
“Were the rumors about Jongrimun just an illusion after all?”
…mockery and ridicule could be heard from the guys of other sects.
They probably saw me controlling my strength and thought that was my best.
Since it was an expected reaction anyway, I didn’t care.
Rather, what I was paying attention to then was…
Tremble, tremble.
“Dongryong…, no, Dong-Bong. Are you okay…?”
“…Yes. Of course.”
“But why is your body shaking so much?”
…Dongryong, who was in front of me.
“Are you nervous by any chance?”
“…Yes, thinking about taking a test in front of so many people makes me a little…”
“It doesn’t look like you’re just a little nervous.”
I clicked my tongue looking at Dongryong, who was trembling more than when we fought the Blood Demon Corpse King’s jiangshis.
This Bastard with zero Self-awareness.
No matter how exceptional they were, the guys gathered here were all rising stars.
Dongryong was in his late twenties, an age at which he could still be called a Rising Star, but his level had already far surpassed that of a Rising Star.
I patted Dongryong’s shoulder and reminded him of that fact.
“Dongryong, I’m not joking, you could spin around twenty times doing the elephant trunk and still Pass the preliminaries. So don’t be nervous.”
“…What will you do if, by some one-in-a-million chance, I fail the preliminaries?”
“What do you mean what will I do? You will just fail. Instead, just remember that if we don’t win, we can’t fix Bangsam’s dantian either.”
“Ah…!”
Dongryong let out a short gasp, as if he had only just remembered Bangsam’s situation.
And then…
“Let’s work hard, if only for Bangsam’s sake.”
“…Yes.”
…his face immediately became full of resolve.
“Hmm… I think he put too much strength into it this time…”
In truth, surpassing the passing score was something Dongryong could succeed at just by lightly operating his Internal Strength.
I was about to give him some advice so he wouldn’t needlessly overdo it. But…
“Dong-Bong of Jongrimun.”
…Dongryong’s turn came before I could even bring it up.
“…I will be back.”
“…Right.”
His face was so Serious that I stopped myself from giving him any advice. It seemed better for him to be Serious than to be trembling in fear, after all.
“Jongrimun again?”
“It’ll probably just be so-so this time too.”
When Dongryong stepped forward, lackluster reactions followed from the surroundings.
“Dong-Bong daoist! Do well!”
Even from the Zhongnan Sect, there wasn’t a very enthusiastic reaction. Honestly, the core of Jongrimun was me, not Dongryong.
Not everyone had very high expectations.
And that was the same for me.
How much could Dongryong really do anyway? He’d probably just Pass moderately and come back.
However…
“Now then, please begin.”
…the Supervisor’s words to begin were heard, and…
“Haaam…”
Right when I was letting out a long yawn due to a lack of sleep…!
KABOOOOOOM-!!!
“…!”
“…!”
“…Ah?”
…a deafening roar that could blow away all my drowsiness pierced my ears at once.
Unable to even close my mouth, I looked toward the source of the sound and saw…
“…Wait, why is this so soft…”
…Dongryong, with an expression even more bewildered than mine.
And when the Supervisor, who was the first to come to his senses, barely managed to open his mouth…
“…Pass.”
All the other rising stars around were watching Dongryong with wide eyes.