Chapter 24 : Chapter 24
Chapter 24 - Murim Alliance (4)
Sweat beaded on Jaun’s forehead.
Tak Mu-bin’s body, holding a proper stance, was like a large arrowhead.
Jaun’s heart began to beat faster and faster.
‘This time, it’s serious.’
It was a powerful energy that made his whole body tingle.
In the midst of Tak Mu-bin’s sharp energy, Jaun swallowed hard.
It felt like that small dagger would pierce through his body in an instant if he showed even a slight opening.
Jaun slowly raised his sword while fixing his gaze on Tak Mu-bin.
Even the single motion of lifting the sword was not easy.
A sense of pressure rushed in as if a net were wrapping around his body.
‘……Did he block all escape routes with his energy?’
Since his Middle Dantian was closed, it wasn’t clear, but Jaun could sufficiently predict that his surroundings were already filled with Tak Mu-bin’s energy.
‘Blocking the retreat path and shooting at a single point.’
Feeling it directly with his body, the terrifying nature of the Sun Shooting Sword was truly realized.
It was simple as his father said, but just as solid. Feeling it with his body, he understood those words precisely.
Certainly, in a situation where there was a difference in skill, there seemed to be no way to gain a fluke against a Diancang master.
─ Drip
A drop of sweat fell from Jaun’s forehead.
‘Since it’s not a life-and-death duel, he won’t aim for other places…… surely his target will be my sword.’
Jaun fiddled with his sword, then laid it slightly to the side and lowered his stance along with it. He had to eliminate openings as much as possible.
Lowering his body close to the ground, Jaun assumed the Middle Guard Stance, a basic defensive technique of the Three Talents Sword Art, and took a deep breath.
Simultaneously as confirming Jaun had taken his stance, the earthen floor Tak Mu-bin stepped on caved in deeply.
‘He’s coming.’
Jaun’s eyes shone brightly.
─ Pa-at
Instantly, Tak Mu-bin’s figure disappeared from view.
At the same time, feeling a massive energy shooting towards him at tremendous speed, Jaun’s face turned pale.
‘This is…… absolutely unavoidable.’
It was a speed that far exceeded expectations.
An invisible massive arrow had already approached within a stone’s throw.
The Sun Shooting Sword of Diancang that shoots down the sun.
And the one who unleashed that sword was the Supreme Elder of the Diancang Sect.
He felt as if sharp energy was hacking his whole body.
Jaun, clenching his teeth, concentrated his internal energy on the sword he was holding just like that.
‘He won’t be able to aim for other places anyway.
So the target is unconditionally my sword.’
Since he had lost sight of the opponent’s sword, a counterattack was impossible.
The only thing Jaun could do now was to deflect the massive energy shot towards his sword to one side and let it flow away.
That was the best he could do.
Before he could even organize his thoughts, he felt Tak Mu-bin’s hot energy touching the tip of his sword.
Goosebumps broke out all over his body.
Jaun bit his lip tightly.
“Haaaaap!”
Jaun pulled his sword down with all his might.
His intention was to flow the energy downwards.
Jaun, who was pulling the sword down with difficulty, felt a massive rebounding force and stiffened his expression in an instant.
‘Don’t tell me, he intended to bounce my sword upwards?’
Tak Mu-bin’s energy was surging upwards.
In contrast, the energy he had gathered with all his might was pouring downwards.
Tak Mu-bin’s energy surging upwards and Jaun’s energy trying to flow it downwards collided right in the center.
─ Kwa-a-a-a-ang!
Simultaneously with a loud explosion, Jaun’s figure was bounced backwards rapidly.
“You Tak fellow! Do you intend to hurt the child!”
Along with the explosion, the loud shouts of the elders shook the forest.
Subsequently, the elders jumped in just like that, caught Jaun’s body flying backwards, and neutralized Tak Mu-bin’s energy.
“A-are you alright?”
Pure internal energy flowed into Jaun’s trembling body.
Forcibly holding back Wi Jeong-cheon’s internal energy that squirmed for a moment, Jaun answered.
“……I am fine. Thank you. Thanks to you, I survived.”
Only when Jaun staggered and steadied himself to stand did the elders let out sighs of relief.
“You Tak fellow! Have you truly gone senile!”
One large-built old man shouted at Tak Mu-bin.
Whether he didn’t hear the old man’s words, Tak Mu-bin, who had been quietly looking down at his dagger, raised his head.
“Haha……. Just what on earth is that fellow…….”
Fiddling with his bruised finger, Tak Mu-bin turned his gaze to Jaun.
***
“Just a moment. Could everyone please be quiet?”
The Strategist Hall of the Murim Alliance.
Jegal Mu-ui, sitting at the table, pressed his throbbing temples firmly.
‘Han Jaun……. It’s this child again.’
Following the accident with the Moyong Merchant Group and the clash with the Green Forest King, this time it was the Murim Alliance entrance exam.
It was absolutely not a common occurrence for the name of a boy who hadn’t been out in the Jianghu for long to come up in the Murim Alliance’s Strategist Hall this frequently.
Jegal Mu-ui felt perplexed by the movements of a rising star whose identity hadn’t even been properly grasped yet.
Everything in the Murim Alliance had to be in his head.
However, the movements of the child named Han Jaun were utterly unpredictable.
‘……This is the third time.’
A child who was already showing actions that deviated from his expectations for the third time.
Jegal Mu-ui drank the tea placed in front of him and moistened his dry mouth.
“Then are you saying it is certain he is at the First-Rate level?”
“He received my sword. I can guarantee that he has surpassed the First-Rate level.”
“Be quiet, you senile old man! Having almost hurt a young rising star. Tsk tsk…….”
At the words of the elder grumbling next to him, Tak Mu-bin flared up and continued speaking.
“Haven’t I told you several times! I clearly tried to bounce that child’s sword upwards, but the collision occurred because that child pressed the energy in the opposite direction!”
At Tak Mu-bin’s words, the elders around him squinted and replied.
“……A child who just turned fifteen tried to flow away the Sun Shooting Sword unleashed in earnest by Tak, the Supreme Elder of the Diancang Sect. As a result, part of the energy intended to bounce the sword off poured onto the child. Are you telling us to believe that now?”
Tak Mu-bin, who was about to answer something to the elders looking at him with frowns, stopped speaking and shook his head left and right.
‘Even if I say it several times, there won’t be anyone who believes me.’
Because even for him who experienced it directly, it was hard to believe.
What kind of position was an Elder of the Murim Alliance?
It was a position one could sit in only after breaking through needle-hole-like competition among the seasoned righteous martial artists.
It was a reward obtainable by someone who dedicated their whole life to the sword and constantly proved themselves through that sword.
It was a position where not even a slight opening was allowed, and it was also a position representing all martial artists of the Murim Alliance.
‘And a fifteen-year-old child taking an entrance exam received such a sword of mine.’
If he hadn’t experienced it himself, it would have been something he couldn’t believe no matter how many times he heard it.
That child clearly felt his sword, and on top of that, tried to flow that sword away in a different direction.
‘How should I accept this situation?’
Looking at the silent Tak Mu-bin, Jegal Mu-ui let out a sigh.
“In any case, if Elder Tak’s words are true, it means he has at least surpassed the First-Rate level.”
Jegal Mu-ui, tapping the table, looked at Nam Ui-hyeon standing in a correct posture in the corner.
“Did you say that child named Han Jaun wanted to apply for the Anti-Demon Squad?”
“That is correct. He said he applied thinking of the Anti-Demon Squad from the beginning, Strategist.”
Nam Ui-hyeon, who was the examiner for the entrance exam, bowed his head slightly and answered.
Jegal Mu-ui, who had been lost in thought for a moment, scratched his head vigorously and opened his mouth.
“Anti-Demon Squad. Hmm…….”
It was the Anti-Demon Squad, which had to clash head-on with the Demonic Cult, not anywhere else.
‘……All movements of the Anti-Demon Squad are top secret. If the Anti-Demon Squad’s movements were to leak to the outside, it is self-evident that the lives of countless rising stars would be endangered.’
Jegal Mu-ui, who organized his thoughts after pondering for a long while, opened his mouth.
“If he is a First-Rate martial artist, the established theory is to give him the position of squad leader and assign him. The problem is that the child’s origin is unclear. You all must know that even if the Nine Great Sects and One Beggar Clan or the Five Great Families decide to raise a successor, creating a fifteen-year-old First-Rate martial artist is a difficult task.”
At Jegal Mu-ui’s words, several elders nodded their heads.
“Let’s concede a hundred times and say he possesses heaven-sent talent. Even so, you all must know that the realm of First-Rate is not something reachable merely by skill in swinging a sword. It is a realm unreachable without a deep understanding of martial arts, which means he received deep teachings from someone.”
“That is true. A First-Rate martial artist at that age……. It is impossible without the help of an outstanding master.”
“Furthermore, that child said his representative martial art was the Three Talents Sword Art.
That he reached that level with only the Three Talents Sword Art…… is somewhat suspicious.
I get the feeling he is definitely hiding something.”
Most of the people standing around agreed with Jegal Mu-ui’s words.
There were clearly parts that remained incomprehensible to just dismiss it as genius talent and move on.
“Especially if we have to send him to the Anti-Demon Squad that deals directly with the Demonic Cult, we must be even more careful. In the worst case, we should suspect him of being a spy for the Sado Alliance or the Demonic Cult, but…….”
At the words Jegal Mu-ui brought up cautiously, an elder standing next to him took a step forward.
“No. His internal energy was pure. No demonic energy or evil energy was felt.”
It was the large-built old man who had supported Jaun.
At that time, the old man had examined Jaun’s body with his internal energy to check his condition, and it was a situation where he hadn’t found anything particularly strange.
“Besides, if they truly intended to plant a spy here, would they have made such a big scene?”
“That statement is also…… correct. If the two organizations truly intended to plant a spy, they wouldn’t have escalated things so noisily.”
Jegal Mu-ui, pondering over the difficult situation, continued.
“Still, it is true that something feels uncomfortable. Therefore, until we clearly reveal that child’s identity, I think we should watch him with suspicious eyes. So, for now, I am thinking of assigning him to the Anti-Demon Squad as a regular member, not a squad leader.”
At the Strategist’s words, Tak Mu-bin shook his head left and right.
“That child’s skill will likely far surpass most squad leaders. If you assign him as a regular member, the organization won’t be managed properly. It is not a good choice.”
Nodding his head, Jegal Mu-ui opened his mouth.
“Elder Tak’s words are a hundred times correct. However, there happens to be exactly one suitable place. It is none other than Squad 30 of the Anti-Demon Squad.”
At the Strategist’s answer, the elders opened their eyes roundly.
“Squad 30…… of the Anti-Demon Squad?”
“If it’s Squad 30, isn’t it a reconnaissance squad? If he is a suspicious child, shouldn’t we not put him in a reconnaissance squad that operates on the front lines?”
“I think it is better than placing him in a combat squad where all power is concentrated.
Furthermore, while operating on the front lines, he might make the mistake of exposing what he is hiding when faced with danger.”
Jegal Mu-ui looked around once and continued speaking calmly.
“Just in case, I will secretly attach an informant from the Bieungak. It won’t be too late to assign him to another squad after watching him from the side and verifying him sufficiently.”
At the Strategist’s words, the elders looked back at each other.
There was nothing particular to nitpick in Jegal Mu-ui’s words.
“……If that is the Strategist’s thought, then that must be right. Besides, if it’s Squad 30, they will be able to sufficiently keep that child in check. Then let’s assign the child there and watch him a little more.”
At the words of the large-built elder, the other elders nodded their heads.
‘Reconnaissance squad…….’
Tak Mu-bin let out a small si
gh and looked out the window.
‘That gaze. That spirit. That thrust. He was clearly a child destined for greatness. He is a child who shouldn’t be neglected by being put into a reconnaissance squad like this…… I worry that everyone might be thinking too complacently.’
Tak Mu-bin’s small sigh filled the Strategist Hall once again.