The daily routine at the Divine Dragon Pavilion wasn’t very complicated.
Immediately after waking, we carried out morning training for about two hours.
After the meal, we began sword training.
Instructors were assigned according to each specialty.
At the instructor’s discretion, whether to proceed with theoretical lessons
or whether to conduct other training was decided.
Personally, I was someone who hated theory lessons the most.
“Therefore... when handling Blue-grade demonic beasts, you must remove the demon stone so there’s less risk of an explosion after its death...”
‘How many times have I heard this now?’
Since it was content I already knew, that was even more the case.
The other pavilion disciples were the same.
They must have learned theory at their respective clans and sects as well, but
since most of them were people who spent their time moving their bodies,
theory lessons were nothing short of hell.
Everyone kept their mouths tightly shut, but
they were probably fighting a considerable battle inside.
A life-and-death struggle against drowsiness.
“Ugh...”
Pae Ucheol, who was actually listening beside me,
was pinching his thigh nonstop to shake off sleep.
He must be bleeding by now...
...He’s probably already bleeding?
‘Hmm...’
I might think what need was there for so much education just to catch demonic beasts, but
in reality, it was quite a necessary part.
It wasn’t an era where martial artists fought martial artists.
Since it was an era where the main enemy had become demonic beasts,
that level of knowledge was necessary for safer and more efficient hunting.
‘...Actually, I’d regretted it too.’
When I became a demon.
Or, when I was rolling around under the Murim Alliance before that.
There were more than one or two times I’d nearly died due to a lack of knowledge about demonic beasts.
Of course, I had knowledge learned through firsthand experience, so I was fine now, but
‘I’ve taken a lot of blows, damn it.’
There were times I’d entered a Red-grade demonic beast’s mouth and counted its teeth.
Actually, honestly,
Green and Blue ones could be learned through knowledge, but
what are you supposed to do about Red ones?
There really was no answer for that.
Every martial artist alive in this era
had never experienced a Red-grade demonic beast.
Because the Magyeong Gate hadn’t opened to that level.
In other words,
the people in this era who had experienced a Red-grade demonic beast
were only me—that was what it meant.
If the assumption was that I was the only one who had experienced the bizarre event of regression,
then that was the story.
That’s why it was meaningless.
The reason other pavilion disciples listened to theory class half-distracted was the same.
Even if several Green-grade ones swarmed, they could be easily handled.
Blue-grade ones, at a level beyond first-rate,
could be caught easily enough if one didn’t let their guard down.
Individual characteristics and danger levels by specimen existed, but
if one unfolded their gang qi, the probability of injury was low.
It meant they weren’t very dangerous.
Even in my case,
unless Blue-grade demonic beasts swarmed from all sides,
it wouldn’t be very dangerous.
If a mutant specimen was mixed in, that would be a different story, but
even when I spent over a year on the front lines,
there hadn’t been anything particularly dangerous.
Rather, it was comfortable because I could fill the stomach of the beggar bastard in my gut.
If we were talking about danger, it would have been more dangerous when Gu Huibi was angry.
In that sense,
this was an era of peace.
Demonic beasts were still around,
and the Magyeong Gate was steadily opening, but
this was a time when the response to demonic beasts had become quite fast.
News of harm to civilians kept coming in, but
the majority thought that couldn’t be helped.
Just bad luck.
They let it go like that.
An era of peace?
In my eyes, it was an era of forgetfulness.
Since this situation had persisted for centuries,
it was an era of forgetfulness, drenched in the thought that perhaps it was fine to continue like this.
‘It doesn’t matter.’
It’s not like I didn’t know it was that kind of era.
With a drooping head, I surveyed my surroundings.
The pavilion disciples fighting sleep filled the surroundings.
To succeed their house.
Or to raise their position within their sect.
Building connections, seeking a more comfortable life, but
no one would know.
The moment a blood calamity arrives,
everything will be destroyed.
Be they Green or Blue,
since Red was an entirely different level, this was nothing but meaningless theory.
‘The Red ones, in about two or three years.’
They began appearing explosively after the advent of the Heavenly Demon, but
the first appearance wasn’t far off—just a few years from now.
Where was the location?
Was it Sichuan? Xi’an?
If not, then Qinghai?
Because it had been a Red-grade demonic beast that appeared after so long,
it had been a matter that stirred the entire Central Plains,
but my memory was hazy, so I couldn’t recall.
“Tsk, ah...”
It was fairly important information.
To think I’d forget something like this again.
‘...When Red-grade demonic beasts appear, the battle lines collapse.’
If a peak martial artist had not reached the state of complete mastery among them,
they cannot face a Red-grade demonic beast alone.
In these vast Central Plains,
how many fully mastered peak martial artists could there be?
Even if we counted the number of martial artists and classified them by age group,
it would barely exceed a thousand.
Among the countless martial artists spread across the vast Central Plains, a thousand.
Could that number properly withstand the rampage of a Red-grade demonic beast?
They had only gradually managed to hold it back around the time the system was barely being established, but
by the time they reached that point,
it would already be a sea of fire.
‘This is bad.’
If we luckily manage to stop the Heavenly Demon, we might somehow get through it,
but if not, it will ultimately follow the same sequence as my previous life.
Creak.
Sound rang out as I leaned back in the chair.
I closed my eyes for a moment and organized my thoughts.
‘I’ll have to release information bit by bit.’
Weaknesses and information about Red-grade demonic beasts.
I think I should slowly release them into the world to the extent of my knowledge.
Of course, they would be dismissed as tales akin to delusions,
and only those who would believe would believe, but
for now, I had to do at least that.
Should I relay it all to the Beggar Sect?
In this regard, Haomun might be better...
“...nim.”
Or, anonymously send it to the Three Clans or sects...
“Hyung.”
“...Ah.”
While my brain was spinning,
I came to my senses for a moment at the gruff voice.
“Are you alright?”
It was Pae Ucheol.
“What? Is it over?”
“Yes, it just ended.”
It seemed the theoretical lecture was over.
They said it would take about two hours, but after spending it all blanking out,
it was over in no time.
“You don’t look well, are you okay, Hyung?”
“I’m fine.”
I’m worn out.
Since I couldn’t focus on the lecture, the time spent blanking out increased.
‘Since I’m doing training on top of that, there are no easy days.’
Ever since finding what appeared to be a secluded location,
I had been using morning training time for personal training.
Traces of internal injuries remained,
but most of the recovery was complete, so it was to the extent that training was okay now.
That said, it was only mental training, but
‘It’s not easy.’
I had to raise my realm even a day sooner.
Perhaps because of that impatience,
the wall did not easily crumble.
...!
.
..
It’s strange.
‘It seems like all the conditions are met.’
My body was a bit lacking, but
my internal qi was sufficient.
It was strange in itself that my internal qi was insufficient after devouring so much.
At this level, it should be enough to rise.
‘Where is it getting stuck?’
However, no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t cross the wall.
If I were to find a few possible reasons in this situation,
first, I wasn’t someone who had reached the Transformation Realm through normal means in my previous life.
‘...Ugh.’
Compared to a realm one ascends to through various enlightenments and long training,
I had used internal qi forcibly absorbed via the Demonic Heavenly Absorption Technique;
it was a state where I had raised my realm by force.
Should I say the overflowing internal qi had smashed through the wall?
Since I had ascended through such a process,
it might not be easy to ascend properly by the book like now.
‘...If I obtained a Baekmaseok, it would be solved, but.’
In that regard, if I acquired a Baekmaseok and absorbed its energy,
it would be resolved in one go, but
as I said before,
I wanted to obtain that after reaching the Transformation Realm.
Because only then could I fully absorb the energy of the Baekmaseok.
If I got greedy, I would lose even more.
So I had to endure.
‘I’m impatient. This isn’t a good situation.’
I couldn’t use the old method.
Because the end was obvious if I did.
Going forward, I had to find a more proper method and accumulate my realm, but
that was why I was anxious.
‘If only Sin Noya were here at a time like this.’
Ha.
A hollow laugh escaped me at the thought.
Having lived however I wanted,
to think that now I felt the need for someone to seek teachings from.
It seemed I was truly backed into a dead end.
“Hyung?”
“Yeah, I’m tired. Let’s go eat.”
I got up.
What good would come from thinking when there’s no answer?
I’ll just keep doing what I’ve been doing.
‘Instead of time to worry, I must do what needs to be done.’
I don’t even have time to be dispirited.
What a wonderful life. Like hell.
“Ucheol.”
“Yes, Hyung.”
“There wasn’t anything important, right?”
“Yes, as always, it was nothing special.”
Kyu...
No, maybe it was nothing to me, but wouldn’t it be a bit different for you?
I looked at Pae Ucheol with a dumbfounded expression, and
Pae Ucheol clapped his hands as if remembering something.
Clap!
Perhaps because his hands were so big, the clap was loud as well.
“Ah, it’s nothing... At the end, the instructor said the theory is finished, so now practical training...”
“There you were.”
Just as Pae Ucheol was about to give me the information,
someone appeared in front of me and cut him off.
“Huh?”
Wondering who it was, I looked up.
First, that annoyingly handsome face came into view.
I could see the sword hanging at his waist.
And upon confirming the martial uniform proving he was from Wudang,
his identity was clearly obvious.
“Have we not met before?”
A handsome young man looked at me and grinned broadly.
One of the few on this land
who was a person I could trust.
“...Sleeping Dragon.”
Jamryong Uhyeok.
“If it’s not rude, would you care to have a meal together?”
A friend from my previous life had come to find me.
Jamryong Uhyeok.
A rare friend to me in my previous life, and
a late-generation talent among the Oryong Sambong who had been ranked near the top.
The most promising disciple of Wudang.
Contrary to his lazy and indolent personality, the sharpness visible when he held a sword
made him stand out all the more.
And,
what I could be certain of at the time the Magyeong War incident occurred
was that the person called Jamryong,
contrary to the impression seen in the Central Plains,
was not lazy,
nor was he indolent.
Rather, I could tell he was always someone with his blade bared.
Even in that shitty situation,
the reason many more people had been able to survive
was because Wi Seola, called the Little Sword Saint,
and Jamryong, as well as Seolbong, moved without rest.
“Just endure three more times.”
—Flame.
Clinging to me endlessly,
I sometimes remember that handsome face that used to tease me.
Was making fun of me really that enjoyable?
Sticking by my side as I spat fierce and angry words,
the guy who just cackled and took it all
was simply a crazy bastard to me.
A crazy bastard.
—Go on ahead, I’ll go in a bit.
A guy who threw away his own life
because of a nobody like me
was definitely a crazy bastard.
—When we get out, let’s have a drink.
That memory constricts me.
Because even now, it brings those memories back.
“Hey, did you know the food here is better than I thought?”
“Isn’t that meat...?”
“It’s delicious, would you like some?”
“...No, you eat a lot.”
A Daoist is even devouring meat.
I had heard that Wudang doesn’t eat meat.
Is that okay?
“...Sahyung, please...”
A figure who appeared to be his junior disciple was making a tearful face.
As expected, it seemed not okay.
‘He used to eat like that even when people tried to stop him.’
It was a memory of my previous life.
I suddenly recalled how that punk who was Wudang’s great hope used to eat any meat without discrimination.
“Saje.”
“...Yes?”
To the Wudang junior disciple, U Ihyeon, who was trying to stop him,
Jamryong spoke as if he had something serious to say.
“Do you know what is most important among the rules of the Divine Dragon Pavilion?”
“...What is it?”
“It is to forget your background and name, and live as a pavilion disciple of the Divine Dragon Pavilion.”
“So?”
“Therefore, while I am here, I am not a Daoist.”
“...So?”
“If I am not a Daoist, shouldn’t I be allowed to eat meat?”
“...Does that seem like it would work?”
“If you’re that upset, go call the Sect Leader!”
“Wow, you must really be crazy.”
To go so far as to call out the Sect Leader like that.
Is he really a Wudang Daoist?
I watched that and nodded.
The young Jamryong
was still a crazy bastard.
He was like that from birth. Thank goodness for that, somehow.
Anyway, setting that aside.
“So. Why did you come looking for me?”
“Hmm?”
I had to ask what needed to be asked.
Though seeing Jamryong was also one of my goals in coming to the Divine Dragon Pavilion,
there had been too many other things, so I hadn’t gone out of my way to look for him.
I didn’t expect him to come looking for me first.
‘Is he still thinking about what happened last time?’
As Paeng Ahui had relayed,
Jamryong had asked about me, but
I hadn’t known the reason.
Is he really holding it against me for interfering during the duel with Yeongpung?
‘That’s not the kind of personality he has, though.’
At least as far as I knew.
“There must be a reason you came so suddenly?”
“I do have one, the reason. But Gu So-hyeop, may I ask you something first?”
“What is it...”
“Why are you speaking casually?”
At Jamryong’s words, the surroundings fell silent instantly.
Because at a glance, it sounded like a chilling remark.
“I believe I am older than So-hyeop.”
“That’s right.”
By three years, or maybe two.
Jamryong would be older than me.
“But why are you speaking casually to me?”
—But why are you speaking casually to me?
Jamryong’s voice
seemed to echo twice.
Because the memory of having this conversation in my previous life surfaced.
I, who had been far more ill-mannered than I am now,
wouldn’t have spoken politely to Jamryong.
And Jamryong back then
had asked the same thing as now.
I, who had been tightly wound up with nothing but pride,
couldn’t kill that pride.
—If you don’t like it, you do it too.
If another martial artist had heard,
it was a tone that would make it no surprise if they immediately got up and beat me to death.
Some nobody weakling they’d never seen or heard of
was no different from putting on airs and picking a fight.
At a moment when it wouldn’t be strange for a fist to fly,
Jamryong burst out laughing and answered.
“Very well.”
An appearance no different from the previous life.
An incomparably refreshing answer.
Rather, the surroundings expressed even more astonishment.
U Ihyeon frowned, looking at his sahyung,
and the companions around were also looking at me as if asking why I was doing this.
Because no matter how much he’d acted like a dog, he’d never acted quite this dog-like before.
Jamryong, as if he didn’t care about such gazes at all,
continued speaking while looking at me.
“I’ve lowered my speech, so are we friends now?”
His lighthearted words were almost hollow.
A conversation no different from the previous life,
I found it rather absurd.
He was still the same.
If there was one thing different,
—What are you saying? Screw off.
“Sure.”
My answer was different from back then.
“...What? I didn’t expect you to accept right away.”
Jamryong rather seemed surprised at my reaction.
I hadn’t particularly planned on refusing.
Ignoring Jamryong, who made a disappointed expression,
I kept pressing the matter.
“So, I’m asking in celebration of becoming friends. Why did you come looking for me?”
“To see a friend?”
“Save the cheap jokes for later.”
I had no intention of letting it slide with a sly remark.
“So you’re saying you’re willing to take my jokes later?”
“Want to get hit first or talk first?”
“Why isn’t there an option where I don’t get hit...?”
Jamryong held back a laugh as if dumbfounded.
Those around looked on, wondering just what kind of conversation this was.
Their eyes showed they couldn’t understand how it was proceeding in such a manner.
I don’t know either.
Because it had been this way since the previous life.
“It’s nothing much.”
Jamryong, who had smiled for a moment, changed his expression and got to the main point.
“I heard you’re starting a faction these days.”
“...What?”
I had to frown the moment I heard it.
Faction? My faction?
What faction.
At this shitty nonsense suddenly reaching my ears, I stared at Jamryong,
but Jamryong continued without pause.
“I want in too.”
“In... the faction?”
Jamryong nodded.
It was such an absurd statement
that I was rather bewildered.
He came to find me to ask to be put in my faction?
For such a retarded reason...?
‘What for?’
He should be one of the least interested guys in the Divine Dragon Pavilion.
I couldn’t understand why he’d sought me out for something like this.
“How about it?”
Perhaps because Jamryong’s voice wasn’t quiet,
the pavilion disciples eating around us all looked this way.
Because it was the statement that Jamryong was entering the wicked Jinryong’s faction.
Looking at those gazes,
a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
It’s not for any special reason.
I just wanted to mess with him.
If this causes a stir, it might also suppress some rumors.
“...Sorry, but I can’t accept you into the faction.”
“...!”
When I expressed refusal, Jamryong’s eyes widened as if he hadn’t expected to be rejected.
“Wh-why?”
“Because whether to do that or not is not my concern.”
“What?”
“Our faction... that is... um...”
I think for a few seconds.
It shouldn’t be long.
“Y-yeah. To enter the Cheolyangcheol Faction, you need our leader’s permission.”
“...Cheolyangcheol Faction? Leader?”
For reference, Cheolyangcheol
is the ‘Cheol’ from Cheol Jiseon,
the ‘Yang’ from Guyangcheon,
and the ‘Cheol’ from Pae Ucheol combined.
I regretted it immediately after saying it.
There must have been a better name. I wondered why it had to be that one.
“Hyung, we had a name too—grrrk!”
I stepped firmly on the foot of Pae Ucheol, who was trying to interrupt, to silence him.
—Jinryong... isn’t the leader?
—Then who is it? The one who handles that wicked Jinryong.
The surroundings buzzed.
Because I had spoken without spreading a qi barrier.
For reference, Murong Hui and Tang Xiaolie,
as well as Nangong Bi, weren’t even looking this way.
She must have caught on early that I was doing something stupid.
It felt like she was doing so because she had seen it so many times.
I changed to an extremely serious expression
and said to Jamryong.
“...Mad Dog Cheol Jiseon.”
“...!”
“Our faction’s...”
“Hyung, wasn’t it Cheolyangcheol?”
“To enter our... Cheolyangcheol Faction, you need his permission.”
Jamryong’s eyes widened upon hearing this.
Was it because it was an unexpected, shocking truth?
Jamryong, whose eyes had rolled this way and that,
soon spoke to me.
“...Who is that?”
“There is such a guy.”
Jamryong’s reaction was extremely dull, but
to those eavesdropping around, it was not.
A rumor about Mad Dog Cheol Jiseon
had a line added to it at that moment.