While the White Wolf Unit was stirring up a new wind within the Hebei Peng Family, a great commotion was occurring in a certain family far away from there.
"You scoundrels! How dare you!"
The Guju Old Family.
Once renowned as one of the Five Great Families of Murim, it was now known to have declined significantly from those days.
For some reason, the atmosphere in the Guju Old Family was terribly hostile.
"I will certainly report this matter to the Murim Alliance."
The face of Nodopyeong, the head of the Guju Old Family, was flushed red with anger.
What could have happened to make this man, known for his gentle personality, unable to contain his anger and trembling all over?
His gaze was directed at ten young men and women.
"And I will make an example of your atrocities! How dare you commit such outrageous acts, do you know where you are?"
"Hahaha! Where are we, you ask?"
One of the ten young men and women stepped forward.
He was a tall, handsome man.
With a smile on his lips, he answered:
"Isn't this a once-great family that's now completely washed up? I believe it's been about a hundred years since you lost your influence, isn't that right? Heh."
"W-What? You, you..."
A washed-up family?
For a moment, Nodopyeong was at a loss for words.
No one had ever spoken to Nodopyeong like this to his face.
Not even the Murim Alliance Leader would dare.
Yet this young man was brazenly insulting the Guju Old Family right to Nodopyeong's face without a care in the world.
But the insults didn't stop there.
"Oh, you say you'll report us to the Murim Alliance? Yes, yes, go ahead. But I assure you, it won't do you any good."
"On what grounds do you say such a thing, you brat!"
"I'm simply stating facts. Well, we'll probably just get a light scolding when we return, that's all."
The young man continued speaking, staring at Nodopyeong with a shameless expression.
"The elders up there won't want to deal with a troublesome, washed-up family like the Guju Old Family anymore. It would be too awkward for them, you see. In other words, you're the only one who loses here, Family Head. Are you planning to ruin your family completely because you can't control your anger for a moment?"
"You... you scoundrels."
A smile deepened on the young man's lips as he continued speaking.
It was such a chilling smile that one might doubt whether he truly belonged to the Orthodox Faction.
Nodopyeong bit his lip until it bled.
"Urgh."
"Well, for the sake of your family, it would be best to stay quiet even if you're angry. I'm saying this for your own good, truly."
That's when,
"Hey, why are you being so kind in explaining things? Who cares what happens to a family like this?"
The nine men and women beside the young man began to chime in one by one.
They were yawning or mocking Nodopyeong as if the current situation was utterly boring to them.
"That's right. Our leader's problem is his unnecessary meddling. Sometimes it's just too much."
"You're the one who's too much. I told you to take it easy, so why did you go and break both arms of that Young Master for no reason?"
"And why did you have to beat up all the servants and cause a fuss?"
"Well, I was bored?"
"You crazy bastard. Heh!"
"Alright, alright. That's enough, let's get going. We still have a long way to go. Well then, Family Head, take care. Haha."
These people who had broken both arms of the Guju Old Family's Young Master under the pretext of sparring, roughed up the servants, and even harassed Nodopyeong's daughter were now leaving as if nothing had happened.
"You, you, you despicable wretches... How can such vile creatures exist! How!"
Nodopyeong ground his teeth and cursed, but they simply went on their way.
After the ten young men and women disappeared with mocking smiles on their faces, Nodopyeong's daughter soon came running with tears in her eyes to support him.
But Nodopyeong, his face twisted in despair, couldn't get up from where he was and just kept shouting at the top of his lungs.
He was too furious to contain himself.
"Father! Are you alright?"
"How... how can they be so wicked? How can they call themselves Rising Stars of the Orthodox Faction and act like this? How! These, these villains! Aaargh!"
Nodopyeong, the head of the Guju Old Family, pounded his chest repeatedly with a heart full of anguish.
"Hehe. He's dying of indignation, dying!"
The young men and women who had left the Guju Old Family and set out on their journey again chuckled as if they found the situation amusing.
Then one of them spoke up, looking utterly bored like the rest:
"No matter how much I think about it, I just don't understand."
"What?"
"Why they're making us go around visiting these pathetic families. I'd rather be hunting down some Demonic Faction scum. Don't you agree?"
"Well, we have to do what the higher-ups tell us to, what can we do?"
"Oh come on, I find this way more fun than being cooped up training all the time. Let's just think of it as a vacation and enjoy ourselves."
"So that's why you picked a fight with an innocent person and broke both his arms? Because you were enjoying yourself?"
"Well, I just didn't like the way he was looking at me. I hate it when people pretend to be nice and keep smirking."
"Hehe. You're crazy."
Who would call these people Rising Stars of the Orthodox Faction?
Just who were they?
100 years ago, after the fierce war between the Orthodox, Demonic, and Heretic Factions, the Demonic Faction suffered the greatest losses among the three.
But in recent years, the Demonic Faction had rebuilt its strength to rival that of the Orthodox Faction.
In fact, looking at the current state of Murim, the Demonic Faction held a slight advantage over the Orthodox Faction.
How was this possible?
It was because they focused on nurturing outstanding talents for the future rather than immediate results.
In particular, an organization called the "Black Gate" was composed of only the most brilliant young geniuses within the Demonic Faction, and with them as the core, the Demonic Faction achieved tremendous growth.
They even demonstrated their presence in the battles between the Orthodox Faction and the Demonic Cult.
Witnessing this, the Murim Alliance couldn't just sit idly by.
They too began to form groups of specially selected and nurtured talents from a young age. The results weren't bad.
Although they couldn't compare to the Black Gate, they also began to show considerable achievements, and the Murim Alliance was satisfied with the results.
So the Murim Alliance steadily created new groups every five years.
And the newly formed group this time was the Scholar Forest Group, consisting of these ten young men and women.
They were in the midst of visiting various prestigious families throughout the Central Plains Murim as part of their final training, following the Murim Alliance's orders to broaden their horizons.
But perhaps because they had been pampered and treated as precious from a young age?
Their arrogance had reached its peak.
The commotion that had just occurred at the Guju Old Family was an incident that showed just how severe their arrogance was.
Thus, contrary to the Murim Alliance's intentions, wherever they went, they caused all sorts of problems, treating everywhere as if it were their own world. The Scholar Forest Group was like a walking bomb.
"By the way, where are we going next?"
"Let's see. Next is Hebei."
"Oh? Hebei, huh? The Peng Family? This should be quite interesting."
"Should we be more careful since they're one of the current Five Great Families?"
"Hah! What more could they have? We just need to watch out for that tiger-like Family Head."
"Well then, let's get going."
Soon, the footsteps of that arrogant group headed towards Hebei.
They had no idea what awaited them there.
"What? You want us to rest for two whole days?"
In a secluded training ground of the Hebei Peng Family.
The White Wolf Unit had gathered at the training ground today as well, with solemn hearts ready for training.
Though they were all groaning in pain with not a single part of their bodies unscathed, not one of them skipped training or complained.
Facing such determined individuals, Yeo Un-hwi made an unexpected announcement.
For a moment, they all wore blank expressions before looking at Yeo Un-hwi with uneasy eyes.
"Why so suddenly, Commander? Have we done something wrong?"
"I don't know what it is, but we're sorry, Commander! If there's anything we need to fix, we'll fix it all, so please don't give up on us!"
"That's right! Please don't give up on us! We'll work even harder, Commander."
Haha...
Yeo Un-hwi was taken aback by the White Wolf Unit's reaction.
Normally, when people who have been training so hard are given a two-day vacation, they would cheer with joy, but their response was completely different from what he had expected.
At this rate, it seemed like they might all kneel down and beg forgiveness for something they hadn't even done wrong.
"No, that's not it. I just thought you might need some rest right about now."
Simply overworking the body isn't always the best approach.
While there are times when you need to push to the limit, sometimes it's necessary to fully eliminate fatigue from the body and start anew.
In fact, there's nothing more difficult than accurately predicting when such times are needed.
But for Yeo Un-hwi, it was all too easy.
He could see it all.
One of the special abilities Yeo Un-hwi gained after inheriting everything from the Martial God and mastering the Heavenly Martial Divine Art was something called the "Divine Eye."
Thanks to the Divine Eye, if Yeo Un-hwi wished, he could see a person's body as if it were transparent.
Thus, he could fully grasp everything from the blood vessels and meridians to vital points, strengths and weaknesses, and even the current state of the body.
It was truly an unbelievable ability.
A power that could easily be called divine.
It was a fitting power for someone who had inherited everything from the Martial God.
However, even though he could see through people's bodies and observe everything, it wasn't always pleasant to look at.
After all, how beautiful could it be to see blood flowing through the body and all the blood vessels exposed so vividly?
So he tended not to use this power often in daily life.
Anyway, his Divine Eye had told him.
The bodies of the White Wolf Unit members were now fatigued almost to their limits.
If they pushed any further from here, their bodies would surely suffer great damage.
Now it was time to pause briefly, fully relieve the fatigue, and allow their bodies to recover completely.
It was time to carefully prepare their minds and bodies to move on to the next stage.
One day wouldn't be enough. Two days would be appropriate.
That's why he had made such a proposal.
But at the suggestion of resting for two whole days, the White Wolf Unit members looked very awkward.
No, they were bewildered.
In truth, anyone would probably welcome such news with joy, but because they had been training with all their might every day with the sole goal of becoming stronger, the idea of resting for two days felt strange and unsettling.
Yeo Un-hwi smiled slightly as he looked at the White Wolf Unit.
"Knowing how to rest well is also key to growing stronger steadily without problems. So, no more arguments. Just trust me and do your best to rest thoroughly. Understood?"
"Yes, Commander."
"Commander. Um, by the way..."
"Hm? What is it?"
"You didn't come alone today?"
"Oh? Ah, haha. That's how it turned out. She kept begging to come along, you see."
Yeo Un-hwi and the White Wolf Unit's gazes turned to the same spot.
Peek, peek.
A small, adorable little creature was holding onto Yeo Un-hwi's pants leg, hiding behind him and peeking at the White Wolf Unit members.
And how lovable and cute that sight was - everyone's lips unconsciously curved into smiles.