Chapter 28
Hong Sochen raised his Dog Beating Staff as if he would attack at any moment.
Jeoksong and Mokyoung, who could not watch any longer, clung to Hong Sochen.
"Sect Leader Hong, please don't be like this and calm down first."
"That's right. Please calm down first and listen to what they have to say."
"These guys! Do I look like I can calm down now? By the way, what are you doing? Not stopping the mid-term examination right now!"
Jeoksong realized his mistake. He had belatedly remembered that Woonhyun was also included in Moyong Gi's group.
"What are you doing? Not telling them to stop the mid-term examination right now!"
"I understand!"
Just as a warrior who had received Jeoksong's order was about to run to the training ground, a blade-like ki extended in streaks and caught his footsteps.
"Where do you think you're going?"
And then a low voice was heard.
It was Johwasim of Mount Hua.
The warrior stuttered as he hesitated.
"Um... th-that's..."
Jeoksong quickly stepped forward and protected the warrior.
"Grandmaster Jo, shouldn't we stop them first? What if an accident happens?"
"An accident... is that a problem?"
"What do you mean...!"
As Jeoksong opened his mouth with a flustered face, Johwasim met Jeoksong's eyes.
"I asked if it's a problem. Did the children violate any regulations?"
"Th-that's..."
In the first place, there were no regulations for the mid-term examination.
The mid-term examination was to divide the Ascending Dragon Class and the Martial Tiger Class by lining up the children who had performed the most among the children who were standing on their own two feet until the end.
However, since the previous rising generation martial artists had never divided into factions so openly, this situation was not even expected.
As Jeoksong hesitated, at a loss for words, Hong Sochen shook off Mokyoung, who was holding onto him with a dazed face.
"Oh. So you were also in on it! Well... a cunning guy like you wouldn't have missed out."
"Do you want to die?"
Johwasim glared at Hong Sochen with even colder eyes. Hong Sochen did not even blink.
"Who? You? Your jokes have improved while I haven't seen you."
"Insolent brat."
Johwasim said as if spitting it out and stood up from his seat.
Jeonghyun of Emei, who had sensed that the atmosphere was not ordinary, quickly intervened between the two.
"Sect Leader Hong, Grandmaster Jo. This is not the time for us to fight among ourselves. First, let's stop the children."
Hong Sochen looked at Jeonghyun with a contorted face.
"Did I say we should let the kids fight? I'm saying we should stop them now."
"Th-that's..."
"And if you keep standing there, you won't see a good outcome. With that guy's nasty temper, he might just cut you down and come in."
At the sound of a sword being drawn, Jeonghyun flinched and looked back, and his heart sank.
Johwasim was holding his sword with an expressionless face.
'Th-this!'
However, it was also awkward to back down now.
If he did, his face would be ruined.
Just as Jeonghyun was stuck between the two, unable to do anything, Chunghuh shot up from his seat and solved Jeonghyun's awkward situation.
"What's with this again?"
Hong Sochen's face contorted as he looked back at Chunghuh.
However, Chunghuh did not even give Hong Sochen any attention.
It was more accurate to say that he couldn't.
Hong Sochen, who was looking at the gleaming black eyes of Chunghuh with a puzzled face, unknowingly followed his gaze and his jaw dropped.
"Th-th-!"
***
Jeonggak looked around at the rising generation martial artists.
"The key is to quickly catch Moyong Gi. It's not good to drag out the time just to catch that one guy."
Peng Gahyeok glanced at Myung Jin and the others and said.
"That's true, but... to do that, we have to catch those guys first, right? And we have to catch them quickly."
Jeonggak nodded.
"I'll catch the weakest, Zhuge Yeon. The rest will be caught in pairs."
Since Moyong Gi and the others had been training cooped up in the training room, no information had leaked out in that regard.
Even Baek Unseol, who had seen the confrontation between Zhuge Yeon and So Moogyeol, couldn't get a feel for it.
She remembered that Hong Sochen had said he was amazing, but she still thought that he was not skilled enough to face two rising generation martial artists.
But she had no intention of telling him that either.
She thought that was the last consideration for Moyong Gi.
As Baek Unseol bit her lip, Namgung Seocheon looked at Jeonggak with a dissatisfied face.
"You're telling me to pair up with another guy and face one of those guys?"
"Is there a problem?"
"Are you saying that as if it makes sense?"
Namgung Seocheon glared at Jeonggak. Jeonggak sighed.
"So what do you want to do?"
Namgung Seocheon's eyes sparkled.
"I'll take on Myung Jin."
"You alone? Are you confident?"
"Of course."
Jeonggak crossed his arms. He knew that Namgung Seocheon was strong, but Myung Jin was a step above him. So he could not easily allow it.
"Myung Jin is strong."
"I know. But I'm stronger."
Namgung Seocheon was confident.
With Namgung Jinsaeng's intensive guidance, Namgung Seocheon had grown to the point where he was unrecognizable.
He had even received praise from Namgung Jinsaeng as a prodigy he had never seen in his life.
He thought that although Myung Jin had also grown to some extent, it was not comparable to his own growth rate.
He was already at a point where Myung Jin was not even in his sights.
"You seem really confident."
"Trust me."
At Namgung Seocheon's confident face, Jeonggak had no choice but to allow it in the end.
"Do that. But keep in mind that you must not lose."
"You don't have to worry."
And then, he turned his body and went straight towards Myung Jin. Jeonggak, who had nodded, looked back at the rest of the rising generation martial artists.
"Let's go too now."
The group of Martial Tiger Class children split, and with Namgung Seocheon at the head, the nine rising generation martial artists walked out. So Moogyeol, who had been contorting his face, his eyes widened.
"Huh? What? Weren't they all going to attack at once?"
Jo Iljang, who was standing a step behind Namgung Seocheon, showed a faint laugh.
"Did you eat something wrong? Do you think you guys are worth that much?"
Woonhyun's face contorted.
"These guys are really! Who was it that made a gang..."
However, So Moogyeol quickly covered Woonhyun's mouth and pulled him.
Woonhyun looked at So Moogyeol with dissatisfied eyes.
"Why?"
"What do you mean, why? They're coming at us with just nine, why are you trying to ruin it?"
Woonhyun quietly shut his mouth.
So Moogyeol glanced at Myung Jin and whispered.
"If this goes well, we might have an answer."
The number one hundred was scary, but if it was nine, even if they were the rising generation martial artists of the Nine Sects One Gang and the Five Great Families, he thought it was manageable.
He was trusting in Myung Jin, whose skills had improved significantly recently.
"If we just plan this strategy well..."
So Moogyeol used his head.
But Myung Jin suddenly walked away.
So Moogyeol urgently called Myung Jin.
"Hey! Hey, you punk! Where are you going?"
Myung Jin did not reply. Namgung Seocheon raised the corners of his mouth.
"I'll face you."
Namgung Seocheon lowered his wooden sword and stepped forward.
However, before he could even take two steps, he opened his mouth with a flustered face.
"You brat! What are you doing? Don't you stand there?"
Even though Namgung Seocheon had stepped forward, Myung Jin did not react.
He continued to close the distance with a constant stride.
It meant that Namgung Seocheon was not even in his sights.
He had been ignored.
Namgung Seocheon's face turned red as he gritted his teeth.
"Alright. I'll do as you wish."
Namgung Seocheon kicked the ground and extended a sword.
Namgung Seocheon's sword was neither fast nor sharp. But it was heavy.
The air distorted along the path of the sword.
It properly contained the essence of heaviness.
Namgung Seocheon's sword had reached a considerable realm.
Naturally, Myung Jin did not ignore it, and seeing Namgung Seocheon's sword coming straight in, he stopped walking.
However, he was not flustered.
He just gently drew a Taiji.
At that moment, Namgung Seocheon sucked in a breath.
"Hut!"
Following the Taiji that Myung Jin's sword drew, Namgung Seocheon's heavy sword was pushed back.
It was the Great Expansion Sword Art, which could ignore decent obstacles and pierce where it wanted.
But he could not help but be considerably flustered as he was swept here and there by the Taiji that Myung Jin was drawing.
However, Namgung Seocheon had also undergone arduous training.
'The sword of Namgung is heavier than anything. I just have to cut it off!'
As Namgung Seocheon's eyes sparkled and he put more strength into his sword, the sword that had been swept here and there came to a halt.
And then it began to crush Myung Jin's Taiji.
Moyong Gi, who was watching that, clicked his tongue.
"So foolish. Even a child knows that you shouldn't go against the Taiji."
You shouldn't go against the Taiji. It's because if you try to go against the Taiji, a greater force will return.
As if to prove it, Myung Jin's Taiji, which was about to be crushed, soon drew a larger Taiji and grew in momentum.
Namgung Seocheon's majestic heavy sword was swept here and there as if it had met a rough wave.
"Eek!"
Namgung Seocheon gritted his teeth and mustered up all his strength.
However, Myung Jin's larger Taiji did not budge.
Rather, the more Namgung Seocheon used his strength, the larger it grew.
And when the size of the Taiji had expanded to the point where it could no longer grow.
Myung Jin deflected his sword in one direction. Following that path, Namgung Seocheon's wooden sword flew away helplessly.
Namgung Seocheon looked at Myung Jin with foolish eyes.
"Huh? Huh?"
Myung Jin, with an expressionless face, received Namgung Seocheon's gaze and then soon moved his sword.
Thwack!
***
"Wow..."
So Moogyeol let out a hollow laugh. He knew that Myung Jin had gotten much stronger, but he had never imagined it would be to this extent.
Among the rising generation martial artists of the Orthodox Justice Alliance, Namgung Seocheon was one who vied for the top with Myung Jin and Jeonggak.
But he couldn't even properly resist.
Myung Jin had subdued him as easily as twisting a child's arm.
He couldn't believe it even after seeing it with his own two eyes.
"Hey, that's Namgung Seocheon, right?"
At So Moogyeol's question, Woonhyun could not answer for a moment.
After confirming Namgung Seocheon, who was lying spread-eagled not too far away, several times, he reluctantly nodded with a dazed face.
"Th-that seems to be the case..."
So Moogyeol unknowingly rolled his eyes.
And then, as if he had a thought, he pointed to himself with his index finger. At the same time, Woonhyun also pointed to So Moogyeol with his index finger.
"Then me too?"
"Then you too?"
So Moogyeol, who was blinking his eyes, suddenly grinned like Moyong Gi, spun his wooden staff, and stepped forward.
And then he slammed the ground.
"These bastards are all dead!"
Woonhyun quickly followed behind So Moogyeol. And then, sticking out only his head, he shouted.
"He said you're all dead!"
***
"Everyone, attack!"
Jo Iljang's voice echoed loudly.
At the same time, a hundred or so Dragon and Phoenix Inn students rushed in.
"Th-this!"
As a dozen or so children rushed in at once, Zhuge Yeon was flustered and stepped back.
However, after pushing back just three swords, she was certain.
'These are not Cheon Youngyoung or Woonhyun.'
So Moogyeol or Myung Jin were even more so.
Moyong Gi was impossible to even follow with her eyes.
Even if a dozen people thrust their swords, it was not as good as one Moyong Gi.
Unlike Moyong Gi, whose attacks were unpredictable, even if a dozen swords flew in from all directions, their sword paths were clearly visible.
Having confirmed that, Zhuge Yeon no longer retreated.
She took a bold step forward and lightly thrust her sword.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
"Ack!"
"Ouch!"
"Oops!"
In an instant, three of them flew out.
But it wasn't just three.
As they got tangled up without forming a proper formation, the movements of five or six were restricted.
Zhuge Yeon's eyes sparkled.
'I see!'
At that moment, Zhuge Yeon's sword changed.
She didn't stab the one closest to her, but the weak one in the most crowded place.
The effect was certain.
"Huh? What?"
"Why is this coming this way?"
"Hey! Get that away!"
Thanks to them getting tangled up with each other, the number of flying swords was significantly reduced.
Now she even had the luxury to take care of others.
'What about Cheon Youngyoung?'
When she glanced back, although she couldn't subdue them in one blow like Zhuge Yeon, she was fighting quite well.
It seemed she wouldn't easily collapse even if left alone.
'That's a relief... hut!'
Zhuge Yeon, who was inwardly relieved, sucked in a breath at the fierce fist wind that came in at that moment and retreated.
And then, confirming the owner of the fist wind, Zhuge Yeon said in a pitiful voice.
"Juhye..."
(End of Chapter)