The fierce battle ended somewhat anticlimactically as the entire Sword Squad watched.
It was a conclusion no one had anticipated.
Wi Seol-ah and Namgung Bi-ah had collapsed.
And the one left standing between them was the unexpected Dang So-yeol.
Looking at Dang So-yeol smiling so brightly, I found myself at a loss for words.
‘Wait.’
Various thoughts crossed my mind.
How should I view this?
Dang So-yeol, who suddenly appeared, had knocked the two out.
The crucial point here is the word ‘suddenly.’
‘I didn’t perceive it.’
No matter how fiercely they were fighting, I hadn't noticed Dang So-yeol intervening in the bout.
My perception had been lowered because the surroundings were entirely filled with my ki, and even if I had blocked my ki sense, it was still a startling fact.
This was proof that Dang So-yeol could now conceal her presence to the extreme, and evidence that she had been intentionally guiding the flow of the fight all along.
‘Piercing through my ki sense, Dang So-yeol entered between the two….’
To be exact, she had gradually hidden her presence from the two who were focused on their fight.
It was delicate enough to fool even me.
And once that was complete, she waited for the optimal moment to….
‘Finally succeeded.’
The moment the desired situation arose, she immediately intervened and ended the spar.
“Hah.”
An exclamation of admiration slipped out before I knew it.
‘Impressive, isn't she?’
Did she plan this from the moment the two started fighting? Or did she decide to attempt it as the fight progressed?
Either way, it didn't matter. Dang So-yeol had ultimately executed her plan by utilizing her strengths.
And the result was a success.
‘Probably no one else around here noticed either.’
If even I couldn't notice, no one else here could have either.
And Dang So-yeol had pulled it off.
“Haha….”
Recalling this, I let out a small chuckle.
The surroundings were so quiet that all eyes immediately focused on me. Noticing this, I gave an awkward smile and spoke.
“…It seems the Vice-Leader for this side is roughly decided. By any chance, do you have any complaints?”
“...”
“...”
“Speak up if you do.”
I asked again, but no answer came back.
That was only natural. They weren't people of a low martial realm either, so there was no way they wouldn't know.
‘I'm saying that surprise attack just now wasn't a coincidence.’
A thoroughly calculated conclusion.
Anyone with a proper martial realm and an eye for combat would have no choice but to understand what kind of phenomenon this outcome was.
‘It made a strong enough impression.’
Just who else here could have pulled that off?
Directly entering the storm of sword aura to suppress and halt the fight.
If it were me, it wouldn't have been that difficult.
However, besides me, was there anyone else among this group who could do that?
From what I could see, there wasn't.
Yet Dang So-yeol had succeeded, so her worth was more than proven.
Of course, complaints could still arise.
What Dang So-yeol displayed was just a fleeting moment, whereas the skill Namgung Bi-ah and Wi Seol-ah showcased during their spar was on an entirely different level.
If anyone harbors dissatisfaction over this, I would respect it.
If they do.
‘Dang So-yeol will handle it herself.’
They can just resolve it with a spar like before.
Then they would realize. That Dang So-yeol's skills aren't something to be dissatisfied with either.
“Since there seem to be no particular objections. Let's have Squad Member Dang take one of the two seats.”
I spoke as I shifted my gaze toward the fellows from the Alliance who were watching us with wide eyes.
“Have you decided on your side?”
“…!”
“Looking at your expressions, it seems you haven't decided yet.”
As expected, it seemed they hadn't been able to decide on their Vice-Leader.
Seeing that, I smiled faintly and said.
“It seems you have your circumstances, so I'll extend the deadline until tomorrow. However, keep in mind that if you fail to decide by tomorrow, I'll pick one to my own liking.”
Will they really be able to decide by tomorrow?
The thought crossed my mind as I spoke.
The likelihood of them failing to decide was high.
It would be nice if they somehow managed to decide, but from where I stood, it didn't seem likely.
Ah, even if they decide, it doesn't really matter.
Since that side wasn't what was important in the first place.
“One side is decided… and for the other side, the situation has become too complicated to decide.”
Swoosh.
I raised my hand and levitated Wi Seol-ah and Namgung Bi-ah into the air using qi.
And.
“Huh?”
I immediately threw them at Dang So-yeol.
Dang So-yeol hastily caught the bodies that suddenly flew at her.
“Urk?!”
Perhaps because her frame was so small, her entire field of vision was blocked the moment she caught them.
“…Vice-Leader, send the fallen ones to the medical corps.”
“W-Wait a moment…”
“Dismissed.”
I gave Dang So-yeol her first mission and turned my back.
And just like that, the first day's assembly ended.
*****************
Afterward, I returned to my quarters.
They say there's a dedicated space for the Leader within the Alliance.
But since I hadn't moved all my luggage yet, I had to stay in my quarters for now.
Boom-!
A loud sound reverberated.
It was the sound of a house-sized boulder dropping to the floor in the space prepared within the quarters.
“Huu.”
The young man who had been training by lifting the boulder until just now wiped his sweat and spoke.
“So. You just came back and left it at that?”
His gaze was brimming with disbelief.
I met his gaze and answered reluctantly.
“It was the best I could do.”
“Shouldn't you have at least brought them here?”
“With so many eyes watching, I couldn't exactly single them out.”
It felt quite unjust to me.
When I explained how I had simply handed the collapsed Wi Seol-ah and Namgung Bi-ah over to Dang So-yeol and left, Pae-jon's reaction was exactly this.
He was acting like that, asking if it wouldn't have been better to leave them with Sin-ui.
‘Does he think I didn't want to bring them because I liked leaving them there?’
More than anyone, I wanted to do that. But….
“Once I've accepted them as squad members, I can't overtly do anything like that.”
Unless it was a personal matter, it had become impossible.
It couldn't be helped.
The girls had to understand this as well.
“Hmm….”
Hearing my answer, Pae-jon tilted his head for a moment before speaking.
“You're so needlessly inflexible about things like this.”
“...”
“Well. You'll do as you see fit.”
As if that was the end of his reaction, Pae-jon began to dry himself off with a towel placed nearby.
Perhaps because he had trained fiercely all day, he looked unusually exhausted.
‘Or it could be because of internal injuries.’
I knew the aftereffects of the spar still lingered….
‘That's why I told you to do it in moderation.’
When someone whose body is already a mess unnecessarily shows off his strength, that's what happens.
‘Does he think getting a younger body means he's actually young? Seriously, he's lived all these years for nothing.’
I was halfway through that thought when I twisted my body.
A boulder brushed past me and swept across the floor.
Crash-!!
“...”
Ignoring the boulder that shattered the ground, I looked at Pae-jon.
“Too bad. If your body was in perfect condition, you would have hit your mark.”
“Are you crazy…?”
“From the look on your face, it seemed like you were cursing me out in your head, so I figured I'd say it.”
“...”
His senses are damn sharp.
“I… never did that.”
“At least make eye contact when you speak. Tsk tsk...”
It was too late to make eye contact now, so I decided to just not do it at all.
“Looking at the force behind your throw, it seems your body is completely healed.”
“Hmph.”
“Then why not just help me out like you said you would?”
When I added that sullenly, Pae-jon let out a snort of laughter.
“Are you still holding a grudge over that?”
“I'm not holding a grudge, I was just saying.”
“Like hell you're not.”
Pat, pat. Having finished drying off, Pae-jon hung the towel to the side.
Seeing that, I clicked my tongue inwardly.
The words asking him to help out.
The true meaning behind those words was something else entirely.
I had asked Pae-jon to join as a squad member when I founded the Seongryongdae in the future.
I made the request because if he came, it would be convenient for both training and for Pae-jon to hide his true identity.
‘He refused.’
Pae-jon had declined.
Saying he had matters to attend to, he claimed it would be too difficult.
Because of that, I had to fill the five spots with others.
I didn't really mind. It had been asked half-jokingly anyway, so it was fine, but…
‘What could those matters be?’
It slightly bothered me that Pae-jon had refused, citing matters to attend to.
‘…Every time this guy says he has something to do, a massive incident erupts.’
I felt anxious.
It might have been my imagination, but the old men around me were especially peculiar.
Whenever they claimed to have ‘matters to attend to,’ a massive disaster was sure to follow.
“You're making a strange expression again.”
“…Me?”
“Hmm….”
Pae-jon stared at me with a look of suspicion.
Seeing that, I feigned ignorance as best as I could.
“Whatever. It's not like it's the first or second day my disciple has been acting weird…”
“…And you think *you're* the normal one… Just kidding.”
Thud.
At my excuse, Pae-jon set down a boulder much larger than the previous one.
I don't know how a human could be so violent.
“I don't know why you're becoming more eccentric rather than maturing as time goes by.”
“You're mistaken.”
“I don't think so….”
“…Let's drop this. Just tell me why you called for me.”
Leaving his suspicious gaze behind, I asked about the main point.
I was here right now because Pae-jon had called for me.
Small talk was over. It was time to get to the main point.
“Ah. It's nothing much.”
To my question, Pae-jon answered.
“It seems you've had a fortuitous encounter recently. Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
I answered without hesitation.
There was nothing to hide anyway.
The change brought about by the Baek-level demonic beast. There was no way Pae-jon wouldn't know about it.
“I swear, what do you keep consuming to get like that? If you find something good, shouldn't you at least share some with your master?”
“…I feel like I did give you some, though?”
I had given him the Dokcheondan, of course, and I frequently supplied him with spiritual medicine as well.
Even though he was consuming all of that, his progress was just slow. Every time I saw him, I thought to myself.
‘I absolutely must never undergo rejuvenation.’
I'd rather bite my tongue and die than end up like that.
“Then, does my fortuitous encounter have something to do with why you called me?”
“It does. Hasn't it always been like that?”
“What do you mean by that…?”
“Has Changcheon become somewhat familiar to your body?”
“...”
“It hasn't been enough time for it to fully sink in yet, but….”
Pat, pat.
Lightly dusting off his palms, Pae-jon added.
At Pae-jon's words, I realized instantly.
The reason he called me was exactly.
“I figured it's about time to slowly move on to the next step.”
To teach me Pacheon (Shattered Heaven), the next stage of Tua Pacheonmu that I needed to learn.
******************
Time flew by in a flash, and it was the next day.
“…Haa.”
I let out a sigh mixed with a groan.
My expression wasn't very good either.
How could my face, drenched in exhaustion, look anything but terrible?
Honestly, even moving was hard.
‘It's insanely hard.’
My body, completely drained of stamina, reacted heavily to even the smallest movements.
My muscles were trembling uncontrollably, and I had used so much internal qi that my heart still felt a chilling ache.
‘Vicious old man.’
Grit.
My teeth ground involuntarily.
Frowning, I recalled yesterday's training, which was the cause of this.
It hadn't been long since I learned Changcheon. The next stage, Pacheon, was something Pae-jon had already demonstrated once.
That immense martial art he showed during the spar with Dowang was Pacheon.
‘Compress and compress the internal qi of Tua Pacheonmu… and finally detonate it.’
It was a shockingly powerful martial art.
Just using it seemed like it would be incredibly helpful, and as Pae-jon had said, since it was reconstructed based on the Guga's Yeomok, I figured learning it wouldn't be too difficult.
‘My ass.’
It was truly an absurd imagination.
Not difficult, my foot.
‘How much internal qi did I use up in a single night?’
I depleted my qi until it was completely empty, replenished it, and repeated the process over and over.
He told me to repeat it countless times to grasp the feel, so I concentrated with all my might, yet….
‘I couldn't even catch the feel.’
I ultimately failed.
It was because the difficulty was much higher than expected.
‘…How am I supposed to use that in actual combat?’
It felt completely different from the Tua Pacheonmu I had learned so far.
Originally, while it was accompanied by pain, the difficulty itself wasn't very hard.
‘This is different.’
Pacheon is different.
If the First Stance and Second Stance were merely simple martial arts that detonated using qi and physical movements.
‘Pacheon requires using everything.’
This stance required me to utilize everything I had learned so far.
I had to endure the pain while regulating my qi, and perfectly control my movements.
During that process, to ensure there were no disruptions, I had to open my Mind's Eye and maximize it with Changcheon.
I really thought I was going crazy.
So much so that even when I failed, Pae-jon looked completely unperturbed, as if he had expected it.
It meant he knew from the start that grasping the feel on the very first day was impossible.
‘Hmm….’
Fully realizing just how difficult this was in multiple ways, my lips pursed involuntarily.
It was also because there was so much to do.
‘Not just Tua Pacheonmu. I also have to keep working on the spell arts.’
Learning Pacheon was good, but besides this, I had way too much on my plate right now.
Especially the spell arts.
‘…That isn't exactly easy either.’
I was learning it from Sin-ui from time to time, but.
I wasn't sure if it would even be possible to intertwine this with martial arts.
Just setting up the framework was already my limit for now….
‘However.’
If only I could succeed, just as I wished.
‘It would definitely be incredibly strong.’
By my estimation, something tremendous would come out of it.
That is, if I succeed.
“Haa.”
I let out a deep sigh.
I did think it was a good thing that I kept finding ways to get stronger, but.
‘I feel like I've taken on too much at once.’
I wondered if I had overextended myself because I felt the situation was urgent.
Because of that, trying to manage all of this while handling my duties was completely draining my body.
‘Still, what can I do.’
I knew.
That this was the only way.
So I just have to be tenacious about it.
‘If it doesn't work, make it work.’
I repeated Pae-jon's words inwardly, which he habitually spat out.
Even if it was an incredibly ignorant remark, nothing fit better than that.
Whatever happens, I just need to overcome it.
Even if I can't do it, I just need to make it possible.
Just as I was trying to steady my mind like that.
“Pardon?”
I had to frown at the voice I heard as soon as I entered the room.
“Where?”
In response to my question, the old man standing before me, Muk-yeon, spoke.
“Gyecheonmun.”
“…Gyecheonmun?”
“We've confirmed the intel that Gyecheonmun in Sichuan has ties to the Demonic Cult.”
It was a truly unexpected name to hear after such a long time.