Chapter 7
"Yeon... I don't see her."
Moyong Gi, who was looking around, muttered with a troubled expression.
A cloud-like crowd had gathered for the Dragon and Phoenix Inn's entrance ceremony, which was held once every five years.
Even though the training ground of the Dragon and Phoenix Inn was not that small, it was packed with people.
It was so cumbersome that it was not easy to even walk.
Moyong Gi eventually gave up on finding Zhuge Yeon.
"Well, since we're in the same group, I'll see her soon enough. More importantly, those Diancang bastards are so petty."
He had checked the assignment table before entering the Dragon and Phoenix Inn, and he was in group sixteen, number eight.
It was the last number among all the Dragon and Phoenix Inn members.
Since it wasn't assigned based on skill, the number itself didn't have much meaning.
In fact, the rising generation martial artists of the Nine Sects One Gang and the Five Great Families were also the last numbers in their respective groups.
However, it was easy to tell that it was not with good intentions.
"They intend to thoroughly humiliate me during the sword examination..."
Moyong Gi was the very last one for the sword examination.
The intention was to build up anticipation with the rising generation martial artists of the Nine Sects One Gang, and then, when people's attention was focused, to thoroughly humiliate him.
"They're just shooting themselves in the foot."
Although it wasn't announced who the examiner was, he had a guess. He didn't have good feelings anyway, so he thought it was for the best. He planned to make it so they couldn't even show their faces.
Moyong Gi was grinning as he walked, and in a moment, his eyes sparkled.
"Huh? It's the little beggar?"
The one who was constantly grumbling with a pouting mouth a short distance away was definitely So Moogyeol.
So Moogyeol was a welcome connection. Yesterday, he hadn't been able to show his pleasure because he had to take care of urgent matters first.
Moyong Gi quickly walked over to So Moogyeol and put his hand on his shoulder.
"What are you doing?"
So Moogyeol turned his gaze, confirmed it was Moyong Gi, and frowned. Then, he raised his hand and brushed off Moyong Gi's arm.
"Aish. Why are you acting like you know me?"
"Why? Can't I act like I know you?"
"You're asking because you don't know? After causing all that trouble, you think I'd be happy if you acted like you knew me?"
Even though he frowned, there was no hostility. He wasn't trying to keep a distance either. He just looked annoyed.
'This is why I like this guy.'
He had no prejudice and held no grudges. He also had a sense of chivalry, so Moyong Gi had received his help several times when he was at the Dragon and Phoenix Inn before his return.
At that time, his pride was hurt, so he had pushed away the hand So Moogyeol offered, but he only realized after getting a little older that it was a foolish thing to do.
'Pride, my ass! What's good is good.'
Moyong Gi showed a grin, and So Moogyeol looked at Moyong Gi with a strange expression.
"By the way, you. Aren't you going home?"
"Why would I go home?"
"Then you're going to enter the Dragon and Phoenix Inn? Are you crazy?"
So Moogyeol narrowed his brow and continued.
"You probably don't know because you've only lived in the countryside, but you should just pack your bags and go home now."
He knew well what he meant. So Moogyeol was worried about Moyong Gi. He was pleased by that sentiment.
So he was just staring at So Moogyeol, but So Moogyeol's brow narrowed even further.
"I'm not joking right now. Listen seriously. If I were you, I would have packed my bags and gone home without looking back."
"Why? Are you worried someone will bully me?"
"Not someone, everyone. That Yoo Hojin guy, he holds a grudge. If he steps up, do you think you'll have anyone on your side?"
"Ah... that bastard, really. Should I have beaten him more?"
"Hey, you punk, that's not what I mean. Hurry up and go home. How are you going to handle it?"
"Handle what? It's just a worm wriggling."
Moyong Gi let out a faint laugh.
So Moogyeol, as if frustrated, added.
"A worm... it feels bad to say this, but I'm saying it for your own good, so listen properly. It's not just a worm moving. A dragon is stepping up. I found out that Grandmaster Lightning Sword Yoon Choong is scheduled to be your examiner, what are you going to do?"
Moyong Gi's eyes sparkled. He had expected it, but it was already confirmed. However, his face was not scared at all. He even sneered.
"A dragon? The real dragon would be wailing and hitting the ground if it heard that."
"Hey, you punk!"
So Moogyeol shouted and covered Moyong Gi's mouth. Then, he stealthily turned his gaze and checked his surroundings. Fortunately, it was noisy around, so it seemed no one had heard Moyong Gi's words.
"You idiot, if you want to go home in one piece, watch your mouth. Did your guts spill out?"
"It's because you're talking nonsense. Lightning Sword or whatever..."
"Ah! Really, stop!"
So Moogyeol looked around again and lowered his voice.
"Have you lost your fear? Are you crazy to want to die? Watch your mouth!"
"So why are you talking nonsense? You don't have to worry unnecessarily."
At Moyong Gi's reply, So Moogyeol frowned and looked at Moyong Gi. Then, he let out a sigh and opened his mouth again.
"Is the Pure Martial Grand Tournament your goal?"
It was because if he entered the Three Dragons and Two Phoenixes, he could raise his fallen family's fortunes in an instant. That's why it seemed he was taking the risk and insisting on entering the Dragon and Phoenix Inn.
"Is there anyone whose goal isn't that?"
At Moyong Gi's question, So Moogyeol let out a groan.
"Anyway... since we're on the topic, let me ask. What did you eat to get so strong?"
"What are you talking about now?"
"What do you mean, what am I talking about, you punk. The Nine Sects One Gang has been turned upside down because of you. The Five Great Families are probably the same. My master heard from somewhere and told me to become just a little stronger than you. Then the Three Dragons and Two Phoenixes would be in the bag. The other guys are probably the same."
Moyong Gi let out a hollow laugh.
So Moogyeol, unconcerned, continued.
"Don't just laugh, tell me. What can I eat to become that strong?"
"Eat what? Are you saying that because you don't know my family's situation?"
"Then you became that strong without eating anything? You have to make sense."
Moyong Gi shut his mouth and observed So Moogyeol.
He could roughly guess the level of his internal energy by looking at his solar plexus and the degree of his body's training.
"About half a cycle, I guess?"
So Moogyeol nodded in a daze.
"Uh... right."
"I'm about the same. But eat what? Ah... I ate one hundred-year-old fleeceflower root."
So Moogyeol's eyes widened.
"No way! Is that kind of movement possible with just half a cycle?"
"What's so impossible about it? You saw it and you still don't know?"
The old monsters of the Demon Sealing Valley were no match in terms of internal energy level.
He had to run faster and longer with less internal energy.
That was the reason Moyong Gi had mastered his family's Cloud-Stepping Art.
At first, it was just running like his life depended on it, but that alone didn't solve the problem.
So, as he ran while thinking about how to run faster and longer, he had unknowingly mastered the essence of the Cloud-Stepping Art.
'The Cloud-Stepping Art isn't a particularly outstanding lightness technique, so maybe others can do it too?'
It wasn't something that could be taught with words anyway.
He hadn't established it himself yet, but he remembered the process accurately.
It seemed like it would work if he made him go through what he had done.
The Beggars' Sect's Drunken Eight Immortals Steps was a lightness technique that was rated higher than the Moyong Family's Cloud-Stepping Art. Comparison was not even allowed in the first place.
Maybe he could become even faster than him. Of course, he wasn't sure.
'If it doesn't work, then it doesn't work.'
Moyong Gi spoke suggestively to So Moogyeol, who was staring at him with a foolish expression.
"Should I teach you too?"
At the unexpected words, So Moogyeol's eyes widened.
"Teach me? That?"
"Yeah. What's so difficult about it. Of course, it's not for free."
If he could learn that, money was not the problem.
He didn't have any money on him right now, but he could just raid the emergency fund his master had hidden away.
'The master will understand since his disciple is getting stronger. Or I'll just get beaten a few times.'
So Moogyeol, who had made his calculations, his eyes sparkled.
"How much?"
"I don't need money... just do me a favor later. Then I'll teach you."
He didn't think he would have any favors to ask.
He was planning to use him as a test subject.
The greedy Zhuge Yeon would surely pester him to teach her martial arts. If it was sword arts, he could teach her himself, but it was difficult to do so with lightness techniques. It was a matter of how desperate she was.
So he was planning to proceed in a slightly dangerous way. He couldn't expose Zhuge Yeon to danger, so he planned to test it out on So Moogyeol beforehand.
But suspicion immediately arose in So Moogyeol's eyes.
"What kind of favor?"
Beggars are naturally suspicious. If you just pick up and eat anything, you don't know when or where you'll die on the streets. So you always have to be suspicious and suspicious again.
Seeing So Moogyeol's pouting eyes, Moyong Gi let out a faint laugh.
"Why? Are you worried I'll ask you to do something you can't?"
"Am I not?"
"Are you saying that as if it makes sense? What great thing can a beggar do. Anyway, are you going to do it? Or not?"
Normally, it would be a suggestion not even worth considering, but he had seen it with his own eyes.
Moyong Gi's movements were that attractive.
As So Moogyeol narrowed his brow and pondered, a blunt voice cut in between them.
"I want to learn that too... can I just do you a favor too?"
Moyong Gi and So Moogyeol turned their gazes at the same time.
The boy in the Wudang-specific blue Daoist robe with a cold face that exuded a chill was, by anyone's standards, Myung Jin.
'This guy!'
The moment Moyong Gi faced Myung Jin, tears almost welled up in his eyes without him realizing it.
He was happy to see him. So happy that tears were about to fall.
There were quite a few members in the Dragon Slaying Brigade, but there were only two he could call friends.
One of them had appeared before him.
But he couldn't show it. There were many eyes watching. Myung Jin, who didn't know the cause and effect, wouldn't understand either.
As Moyong Gi held back his reddening eyes, So Moogyeol took a step forward.
"Hey. When did you come? You didn't even show your face until yesterday?"
"I just arrived. More importantly."
Myung Jin pushed So Moogyeol aside and looked at Moyong Gi.
"Can I learn that too?"
Moyong Gi smiled and nodded.
"Of course."
So Moogyeol frowned and looked at Myung Jin.
"Hey. Do you really know what this guy is trying to make you do?"
"I heard his lightness technique is top-notch. They say it's hard to even follow with your eyes... that's worth it."
People often described Myung Jin as having a cold disposition.
But that was only knowing half of Myung Jin.
When it came to martial arts, he would go through fire and water.
Face or pride was not important either.
He would get what he wanted even if he had to grovel.
He reacted more hotly than boiling lava.
This was the reason why Myung Jin had become strong enough to accompany Moyong Gi until the very end in the Dragon Slaying Brigade.
Of course, it wasn't that Myung Jin blindly trusted Moyong Gi either.
"Anyway, his skills will be revealed during the sword examination..."
So Moogyeol clapped his hands.
"That's right. Grandmaster Yoon won't treat him gently anyway, so if he's a guy who can overcome that, then... alright. I'll do you a favor too."
So Moogyeol thought that wouldn't happen.
No matter how outstanding Moyong Gi was, Yoon Choong was on a different level.
He wasn't someone you could face just by beating up a few rising generation martial artists.
Since such a person was determined and waiting, there was no way Moyong Gi could withstand it. That's why he had answered so easily.
Moyong Gi nodded.
"Alright then. You too?"
Then, he pointed his finger at Myung Jin. Myung Jin shook his head.
So Moogyeol got angry.
"What? You're going to push me in and back out yourself?"
"That's not it."
"If that's not it, then what is it?"
Myung Jin looked at Moyong Gi. His unusually black pupils gleamed, showing his fighting spirit.
"I have one more condition. If you pass the sword examination, let's fight. If you win, I'll do as you say."
It had been hard to endure since he heard the rumor that he had crushed the rising generation martial artists of the Nine Sects One Gang.
It was even more so now that he was facing the protagonist of the unbelievable rumor.
Nevertheless, Myung Jin endured it. He held it back, reminding himself of the bigger prey, the Pure Martial Grand Tournament. Moyong Gi could see that feeling in his eyes.
'He's a martial arts fanatic, alright. Thanks to that, it turned out well. I was planning to teach him by force even if he said no.'
To fight the emperor, getting stronger alone was not the solution. The guys fighting with him also had to get stronger. If Myung Jin learned properly, he might even become stronger than him.
'It doesn't matter. Anyone can go and land a strike. More importantly, it would have been nice if Muhan was here too.'
He was constantly disappointed by that part.
Unlike Myung Jin, who had a connection through the Orthodox Justice Alliance, his connection with Cheol Muhan was only formed after six years.
'It can't be helped. I can't just recklessly jump into the Tyrant's Fortress.'
If he did that, his head would be cut off before he could even see Cheol Muhan's face. Even if it was disappointing, he had to endure it.
Moyong Gi grinned and looked back and forth between So Moogyeol and Myung Jin.
"You want to become a master? If you want to become a master, just listen to me."
So Moogyeol and Myung Jin looked at Moyong Gi with dumbfounded expressions.
(End of Chapter)