Chapter 6
“There doesn’t seem to be anything particularly different about us. We balance group training and individual practice appropriately.”
“I see…”
Yoon Seok nodded, thinking that Seo Mugyeom didn’t seem interested in talking much.
However, he wasn’t about to give up just yet.
If the Tenth Division was hiding its true skills, he was desperate to uncover the thod and use it to train the martial artists of the Eighth Division.
Hadn’t Seo Mugyeom’s skills shown today been overwhelmingly superior?
He tried probing Seo Mugyeom for more information about the Tenth Division, but his efforts yielded no results.
Seo Mugyeom was so distracted that even getting a response after calling his na was difficult.
In truth, Seo Mugyeom just wanted to arrive at the Divine Martial Sect as soon as possible.
The incident where the Eighth Division wiped out the Nine Dragon Gang had spread to a few people.
The Divine Martial Sect Sect Leader and the leadership, having only received a brief report, assud that the vice-captain and martial artists of the Eighth Division had done well.
That was because there was nothing unusual in Division Leader Gwan Uk’s report.
This was not Gwan Uk’s fault, but Yoon Seok’s.
Yoon Seok had quietly observed Seo Mugyeom and wanted to bring him into the Eighth Division.
To do that, he thought it best if no one paid too much attention to Seo Mugyeom.
He had even strictly ordered the subordinates who carried out the mission with him to remain silent about Seo Mugyeom, and that included Gwan Uk, the Division Leader of the Eighth Division.
Seo Mugyeom returned to the Tenth Division and gave a brief report.
He stated that the mission had been completed successfully and that he had returned unhard.
That was all Pyo Inhaeng wanted to know, so he didn’t ask anything further.
“If you’re even slightly injured, it’s best to say it now. There’s no benefit to pretending to be tough.”
“Thank you for your concern, Captain. But I was lucky and didn’t get hurt.”
Hearing that, Pyo Inhaeng assud Seo Mugyeom hadn’t been directly involved in the fight.
On second thought, that seed natural.
With the Eighth Division taking the lead and bringing along a low-ranking martial artist from the Tenth Division, would they really have left the task to Seo Mugyeom?
Pyo Inhaeng thought he owed the Eighth Division Leader a drink soday.
He still couldn’t understand why Seo Mugyeom had insisted so stubbornly.
If a low-ranking martial artist from another division had made such a request to him, Pyo Inhaeng would’ve flat-out refused.
“Seo Mugyeom, this will be the last ti you act on your own. If you pull sothing like that again and disgrace the Tenth Division, I won’t let it slide.”
“Yes, Captain. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Seo Mugyeom answered obediently, which made Pyo Inhaeng feel sothing was off.
“Don’t take it too much to heart though. You ca back safe, and that’s what matters.”
“Thank you.”
Pyo Inhaeng thought maybe he had spoken too harshly and tried to ease up, but Seo Mugyeom’s expression barely changed.
Thinking about it, he wasn’t even sure if Seo Mugyeom had been intimidated by his words.
After a mont of hesitation, Pyo Inhaeng just walked away.
Seo Mugyeom was glad to be alone with his thoughts and returned to his room.
There, he began to review what had happened during the battle with the Nine Dragon Gang.
The most puzzling thing was the technique that surfaced in his mind, and the strange movent of unfamiliar inner qi.
‘Can inner qi suddenly erge out of nowhere? I thought it only accumulated gradually through cultivation or had to be acquired through elixirs. Am I missing sothing?’
It seed like a real possibility.
He was pondering who he could ask about it when Ho Jo-yeong ca by upon hearing that Seo Mugyeom had returned.
Ho Jo-yeong had been worried ever since Seo Mugyeom said he would join the mission with the Eighth Division, so he rushed in as soon as he could.
“Mugyeom, are you alright?”
Seeing how breathlessly he asked made it clear just how worried he had been, and Seo Mugyeom smiled first.
“Of course. I’m fine.”
“Don’t be so stubborn next ti, you rascal. You don’t know how worried I was. And it wasn’t just —everyone in the Tenth Division was worried. Even the Captain checked multiple tis asking if you’d returned yet.”
Seo Mugyeom had always thought of Pyo Inhaeng as a strict captain, so he was surprised by that.
“Senior, there’s sothing I’m curious about.”
“Sure, ask anything. I’ll tell you if I know the answer.”
“It’s about inner qi. Can it suddenly erge and move on its own one day?”
Ho Jo-yeong stared blankly at Seo Mugyeom.
The Seo Mugyeom he knew was young and inexperienced, but not soone to spout nonsense.
And the question he asked was sothing even a few months of martial arts training would answer.
“Mugyeom, you know that’s not how it works, right?”
Still, Ho Jo-yeong considered the possibility of elixirs. But elixirs weren’t sothing you could just stumble upon.
Even soone of Pyo Inhaeng’s level in the Tenth Division would find it difficult to obtain such a fortuitous encounter, let alone Seo Mugyeom.
So it was safe to say Seo Mugyeom had not consud an elixir.
“But it’s strange. During the fight, I’m certain there was inner qi in my body that I didn’t know I had.”
“…”
Ho Jo-yeong silently looked at Seo Mugyeom.
He believed he knew Seo Mugyeom fairly well.
Both had trained in a martial academy from a young age to enter the Guardian Ten Division and joined after completing their training.
Ho Jo-yeong, four years older, had joined first and looked after Seo Mugyeom like a younger brother once he entered the Tenth Division.
Seo Mugyeom wasn’t one to speak recklessly.
Seeing the seriousness in his face, Ho Jo-yeong nodded.
If he was asking with that expression, he genuinely wanted an answer.
“As far as I know, that doesn’t happen. Unless soone forced you to consu an elixir without your knowledge, but who would even do that?”
“Right…?”
Seo Mugyeom nodded obediently, as if that aligned with his thoughts.
His expression made it clear that this issue was truly troubling him, and Ho Jo-yeong couldn’t ignore it.
“I’ve heard that sotis inner qi from an elixir doesn’t fully rge into your system and gets stored in your acupoints. Then, in special circumstances, it can activate. But even then, you must’ve consud the elixir first, right?”
Seo Mugyeom perked up with curiosity.
“Could you explain that in a bit more detail, Senior?”
“Why? Did you actually take an elixir without knowing?”
Ho Jo-yeong laughed as he asked, confident that he’d know if Seo Mugyeom had done such a thing.
Seo Mugyeom also chuckled awkwardly.
“How would I have the luck for that kind of encounter? It’s just that too many strange things have happened, and I want to understand it sohow.”
“Yeah, that makes sense. It’s nothing special, really. I’ve heard that if you take an elixir that greatly boosts inner qi, the energy can’t be absorbed all at once. So of the leftover qi might hide in your acupoints and activate when the user is in danger.”
‘When the user is in danger?’
That phrase hit Seo Mugyeom like a jolt.
If that were the case, everything made sense.
During the fight with the Nine Dragon Gang, he had faced that kind of situation several tis. It made sense—he had been throwing himself into battle, ready to die.
‘Could that have triggered it? No, wait. That would still require that I had taken an elixir in the first place.’
Ho Jo-yeong wanted to help, but both of them felt like they were facing an insurmountable wall.
Seo Mugyeom pondered for a mont, then recalled sothing else and looked at Ho Jo-yeong.
“Senior, during the fight with the Nine Dragon Gang, a strange technique surfaced in my mind. Actually, it first ca to during training at the martial grounds. Have you ever experienced sothing like that?”
“A technique ca to you?”
What he’d heard just now was already strange, but this was even more baffling.
Ho Jo-yeong figured Seo Mugyeom was joking and smiled.
But Seo Mugyeom didn’t laugh or smirk—he just looked at him seriously.
Realizing that Seo Mugyeom was genuinely waiting for an answer, Ho Jo-yeong cleared his throat.
“I’ve never had that happen. I’m not even at that level yet… It’s hard enough to repeatedly train in the techniques we’re taught in the division. How could I create a new one? Even if I did, I doubt it would be useful in real combat.”
That was a roundabout way of denying Seo Mugyeom’s claim.
Even though Ho Jo-yeong had a good personality and was modest, he didn’t think of himself as inferior to Seo Mugyeom.
So he naturally assud that if he couldn’t do it, Seo Mugyeom wouldn’t be able to either.
If Seo Mugyeom had ever shown outstanding talent, it might’ve been a different story—but that wasn’t the case.
Seo Mugyeom nodded, as if he had expected that.
He seed to have thought the sa from the start.
Seeing how downcast he looked, Ho Jo-yeong couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.
Seo Mugyeom was the only survivor of a mission where all others had died. Traumatized by that, he had insisted on tagging along on another division’s mission.
That was sothing Ho Jo-yeong still couldn’t understand, but he figured it was because the shock had been so great.
Now, Seo Mugyeom was saying strange things again, and looked disheartened because of it.
“Mugyeom, could you try showing the technique you say ca to you?”
Ho Jo-yeong wanted to let Seo Mugyeom know that he was taking him seriously, even if the story sounded ridiculous.
He hoped that might give Seo Mugyeom so comfort.
What he didn’t expect was for Seo Mugyeom to imdiately draw his sword and stand up.
“You’re really going to do it?”
“Yes, Senior. That would be best.”
Then he raised his sword and began demonstrating the technique in the air.
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