I first sent all the senior brothers from the other rooms back.
I was only able to send them back after promising that I would absolutely not promise to duel with the senior brothers from our room first.
Un Gwang, in the midst of it all, like a grand senior brother, firmly said, 'I'll think of a fair way for you to duel with Unhwi, so you can't make any decisions until then!'
It was an Un Gwang from whom I had never seen a firm side, but recently, he seems to be showing that side quite often.
"Ugh. This is why I tried to get a head start."
Senior Brother Un Cheol said with a troubled expression.
I, with a chuckle, answered his words.
"It might have turned out for the best."
"Why?"
"There's one thing everyone is mistaken about."
In an instant, the gazes of the senior brothers in our room focused on .
I, receiving their gazes, calmly continued.
"The reason everyone wants to duel with right now is because they think they can show all their strength if I receive them well, right?"
"Right...?"
"But why does everyone think so positively? If I do my best, the duel will be over before they can show anything, right?"
"Ah...!"
Only then did the senior brothers have an expression as if they had realized sothing.
"And I have absolutely no intention of going easy on anyone, no matter who the opponent is or what kind of duel it is. You all know that I'm the type to always do my best in any situation, right?"
The senior brothers nodded as if they were possessed.
In particular, a sense of relief seed to flash across the faces of Senior Brother Un Sik and Senior Brother Un Mi, who had relatively lower martial arts skills in our room.
And for good reason; they had just realized that they could have wasted one of their only three chances by dueling with and showing nothing.
In fact, what I just said was not much different from saying 'senior brothers, you are no match for my first move,' but they didn't look offended at all.
"That's true. Thinking about it, if the level difference between you and is too big, I really might not be able to show anything."
"That was a close call. I'll think in the direction of not dueling with you."
" too. too."
Senior Brother Un Sik and Senior Brother Un Mi completely gave up on dueling with like that... but seeing the expressions of the remaining two senior brothers, a slight smile blood on my face without realizing it.
Senior Brother Un Cheol and Senior Brother Un Jeong still seed to want to have a go at .
"You two still want to duel with ?"
The two of them nodded at the sa ti.
"Yes. I don't know how much I can stand against you, but if I'm going to do it anyway, wouldn't it be better to face the strongest opponent? Of course, I might be defeated without doing anything while dueling with you, but I still have two chances left."
As if continuing Un Cheol's always serious tone, Un Jeong imdiately opened his mouth.
"Right. I have a similar thought. I was thinking of having one of my three duels with an opponent stronger than , another with an opponent similar to , and the last with an opponent weaker than . Among them, the opponent stronger than ... I hope it's you."
I quite like the expressions and attitudes of Senior Brother Un Cheol and Senior Brother Un Jeong.
A martial artist should have that kind of fighting spirit.
But, since the senior brothers from other rooms, including Un Gwang, have already co to our room and said that and gone back, I can't make a decision here.
"Then... let's wait and see what kind of thod Grand Senior Brother Un Gwang will bring. You just have to win in that fair competition, right?"
"Right."
"Alright. Then let's stop talking about the martial arts tournant for now. We have sothing more important to do, don't we?"
"Sothing important?"
"What else? Night training. Looking at you all now, you all seem to be full of energy, so let's go out quickly."
I led the senior brothers to the training ground.
And when we arrived at the training ground, I couldn't help but burst into a hearty laugh.
"No... did you all co here instead of going back to your respective rooms?"
"Yeah. I was about to go back to my room, but I felt like sothing was nagging at ."
"There's still a lot of the day left. I wanted to use my ti efficiently."
Because all the senior brothers who had co to our room and gone back were gathered here, doing their individual training.
A smile blood on my face without realizing it at the sight of the senior brothers training hard, dripping with sweat.
I quickly mixed in with them and began to move my body.
No matter what, for , this ti of being able to train without thinking felt like the most comfortable ti.
***
And so, ti passed, and the day of the martial arts tournant was just a few days away.
During that ti, the senior brothers trained with a frightening intensity.
At first, I thought the martial arts tournant system was just a cumberso event, but looking at it this way, it's a pretty good system.
Because, one way or another, it provides a good motivation for our senior brothers to focus on their training.
And today was the day Un Gwang had gathered everyone and said he would decide who would duel with , so all the senior brothers who wanted to duel with were to gather at the training ground.
Of course, I also had to go there. But right now, I was in front of the Sangcheong Palace.
Because the Sect Leader had said he had sothing to say regarding the martial arts tournant and had asked to see for a mont.
"Unhwi-ya. You're here."
"Yes, Sect Leader."
"Will you wait for a mont? The conversation is almost over."
"I understand."
When I arrived at the Sect Leader's room.
The Sect Leader was not alone there.
Because he was with a man wearing a Taoist robe similar to ours, but quite different.
I know which sect that Taoist robe belongs to.
'A Huashan Sect Taoist.'
Although I don't have a very deep connection with them in this life, in my past life, I had clashed with the Huashan Sect countless tis, so I recognized the Taoist robe at a glance.
I don't know exactly who from the Huashan Sect he is, but seeing that he is of a similar age to the Sect Leader, I guessed that he is a person with a fairly high position within the Huashan Sect.
"Then, Myeong-jin. Shall we finish our conversation? It wasn't supposed to be such a long story, but sohow it got longer."
"Before that, just a mont. Did you say that child's Taoist na is Unhwi?"
"I did."
The Taoist called Myeong-jin stared at intently.
Since I had no way of knowing who that Taoist was, I couldn't even avoid his gaze, nor could I say anything, and just blankly received his gaze.
"Haha! So it was. You were Unhwi."
Then, Taoist Myeong-jin, as if sothing was so amusing, suddenly burst into laughter.
Not only , but the Sect Leader also couldn't understand the reason and was just staring at him blankly, when he opened his mouth.
"My apologies. You must have been taken aback by my sudden laughter. Actually, I already know you, Unhwi."
"?"
I thought for a mont.
The Huashan Sect martial artists were also invited to the Sword Emperor's birthday banquet in the past, and there were also Huashan Sect martial artists when I went to Zhejiang Province a while ago.
I thought he might have heard about from them, but the na that ca out of Taoist Myeong-jin's mouth was a completely different person's na.
"Do you perhaps rember a person nad Baek-gil?"
"Baek-gil...?"
At first, no na ca to mind, but then one person's face flashed by.
"Ah! The one who was acting like a nuisance with the Zhongnan Sect martial artists at the inn!"
"What...?!"
"Ah, no. That's not it. What should I say, he was full of vigor!"
Myeong-jin looked at with a dumbfounded expression for a mont, and the Sect Leader also let out a small sigh.
It was Taoist Myeong-jin who saved the atmosphere that was about to beco awkward.
He burst into laughter even louder than before.
"You're right. To create a hostile atmosphere as if they were about to fight in a place used by many people, and to threaten those who don't know martial arts, that is indeed a nuisance. Hahaha!"
He, after laughing for a long ti, continued, "I am that Baek-gil's master."
"I-I see."
"When I ca to Shaanxi a while ago, Baek-gil said he found you very impressive. So I rembered the na. Unhwi of the Wudang Sect."
"I also found him very impressive. He was a person who seed like he could reach a much higher level than he is now if he could just control his fiery temper."
I, without realizing it, said what I had felt about Baek-gil at that ti.
Because I sincerely thought that if he just relaxed his mind, he could beco much stronger than I had seen him then.
Still, since saying sothing like this about another sect's disciple could be offensive to the listener, I glanced at his expression, but fortunately, he didn't seem to mind much.
"You saw correctly. As you said, I am in the process of teaching my disciple how to control his mind rather than teaching him martial arts. Because he is a child who does well on his own in martial arts."
"I see. He was a Taoist who made want to et him formally soday."
"I'm just grateful that you saw him that way."
I tried my best to praise Baek-gil, and Taoist Myeong-jin looked at the Sect Leader again.
"Then let's briefly wrap up the story."
"Let's do that."
"For now, I will also request cooperation from the Sichuan side."
"Where in Sichuan are you thinking of asking for cooperation?"
"For now, since we have a connection with the Qingcheng side, I will contact Qingcheng."
"Qingcheng... I see. Then should we contact the Tang Clan side..."
Taoist Myeong-jin said with a worried expression.
"Hmm. But I'm not sure how the Tang Clan will take it. I heard that Wudang and the Tang Clan were on good terms until the previous generation, but now, because of 'that incident,' it's been a long ti since contact was cut off, isn't it?"
"That's right. But, in the end, that was also an incident of the previous generation. There's no guarantee that the relationship won't be restored now, is there?"
"Hmm... you have a point. Alright. I'll leave that side to the Wudang Sect."
"If things go wrong this ti, the power of the Four Evils Alliance bastards will probably grow out of control, so we must proceed with caution."
"I understand."
They exchanged a few more words after that, but I focused on the word 'Four Evils Alliance' that ca out of the Sect Leader's mouth.
'So the Orthodox Faction was aware of the existence of the Four Evils Alliance and was wary of them from the beginning.'
Even Maeng Gwang-gae, whom I t a while ago, seed to know everything that was happening throughout the martial world.
So, of course, it seed they already knew about large organizations like the Four Evils Alliance or the Four Evils Alliance.
But for a problem related to them to break out not long after ans there is only one conclusion.
'They knew but couldn't stop it.'
Of course, I still don't know what the reason is, so I thought I should slowly find out from now on.
Since the Sect Leader said he would try to contact the Tang Clan side, it was clear that soone would be sent there.
I thought it would be a way for to go there myself and find out.
"Then I will get up now. If there is an urgent matter, please send a letter at any ti."
"I understand. You too... take care of yourself."
"What is there for to take care of? I just hope that nothing major happens to our disciples."
Taoist Myeong-jin, with a hearty laugh, got up from his seat.
"Unhwi."
"Yes."
"It seems we will have a chance to see each other soon. See you then."
"Yes. I'll see you later."
He, after a simple greeting to the Sect Leader, left the Sangcheong Palace.
The Sect Leader, for a mont, thought of sothing with a worried expression, and then, as if nothing had happened, turned to and said, "Hwi-ya. You've been waiting long?"
"No. Thanks to you, I also got to greet Taoist Myeong-jin."
"Myeong-jin is my old friend. We've been close since we were young. By the way, do you know why I called you, Unhwi?"
"I heard you have sothing to say to regarding the martial arts tournant."
The Sect Leader nodded his head and, with a brightened face, asked , "Since there's no ti, let's get straight to the point."
"Yes, Sect Leader."
"If you were to face your senior brothers... how many do you think you could face in a whole day?"
"Yes...?"
I thought it was a joke, but the Sect Leader's expression was full of sincerity.
'Un Gwang... could this be the solution you ca up with?'
In the end, the decision they made... was to overwork by changing the rules.
I let out a chuckle once, and a deep sigh once. And then I answered the Sect Leader.
"I can do it all day."
(End of Chapter)
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