At Yang Gang’s reply, Yeon Woo Jin turned to Jang Woon.
“Since he’s a guest, make sure he’s treated properly.”
“Got it.”
Then, through sound transmission, he spoke to Yang Gang.
—After dinner, get so rest, then bring the people on the list I gave you.
—Understood!
****
That evening.
Pyeong Cheon sat with a satisfied expression, patting his stomach.
This place was strange.
Just sitting still made it feel like his stamina was recovering on its own—like so kind of mystical zone.
The dinner had been plentiful and delicious.
He truly felt welcod and genuinely treated as a guest.
Because of that, the unpleasant things that had happened earlier in the day had mostly been washed away.
Just as he was feeling content, Yang Gang moved around gathering the top and second-ranked underclassn.
Then he turned to Pyeong Cheon and said,
“Step outside with for a mont. There’s sothing confidential we need to talk about.”
Now that he thought about it, Pyeong Cheon had quite a few things he wanted to ask.
The thing that stood out the most was what Yang Gang had said earlier—referring to Yeon Woo Jin as “my lord.”
Yang Gang led them behind the building, to a secluded spot, then turned to the students who had followed him.
“From this point on, what I say must stay between us.”
Pyeong Cheon and the others gulped and nodded.
The secrecy only deepened their curiosity.
“Did you hear call him ‘my lord’ earlier?”
At Yang Gang’s question, Pyeong Cheon shot back,
“Of course I did! That’s exactly what I’ve been dying to ask. What the hell was that about? Did he ask you to serve him in exchange for healing you?”
“Yeah.”
“And you just started calling him ‘my lord’ like that? Are you out of your mind? Did you fall under so kind of spell or what?”
“It’s not like that. He’s not soone who would do that.”
“Him?”
“Yes. My lord.”
“Hah...”
When he said “my lord” so naturally, Pyeong Cheon and the others stared at him in disbelief.
“Dude, you just t him today and you’re calling him ‘my lord’ like it’s nothing?”
“The mont I decided to serve him, it just ca naturally. You’ll get used to it too.”
“What? What do you an, ‘we’ll’?”
“My lord specifically pointed you all out. He wants you.”
“...What?”
“Congratulations. You’ve been chosen.”
“Chosen? Wait, you’re saying... w-we’re supposed to follow him too? And if we don’t, he won’t let us leave?”
“There won’t be any penalties if you don’t.”
“Then I’m not doing it. I’m not just going to follow soone I don’t even know.”
“That’s why I’m going to tell you who he really is.”
“And who would that be?”
“The one and only direct grandson of the Martial Celestial Lord.”
“...Huh?”
An unbelievable na had just dropped out of nowhere.
Why was the Martial Celestial Lord suddenly part of this?
“What are you talking about? Why would he be related to the Martial Celestial Lord? And what do you an, grandson?”
“That’s who he is. The Martial Celestial Lord’s direct grandson.”
Pyeong Cheon froze for a second at Yang Gang’s words, then snapped out of it.
“Get a grip! Don’t you know? The Martial Celestial Lord doesn’t have any blood relatives! That’s why there’s a whole successor competition happening right now!”
“That’s true.”
“Then how can you be so sure? The Lord himself hasn’t vouched for him!”
“Think about it. He’s younger than us, and yet he has the power to save when I was dying due to lack of cultivation. Why would soone like that need to lie? And this is Mushincheon. Do you think it’s even possible to impersonate a blood relative of the Martial Celestial Lord here? The rumor would explode in seconds.”
Now that he heard it like that—it made sense.
Impersonating soone related to the Martial Celestial Lord in Mushincheon?
You’d need ten lives to even attempt that.
Hearing it put that way... it really did sound plausible.
“S-So you’re saying it’s real?”
“Yes. It’s real. Like I said—you’re lucky. You’ve been chosen by him.”
Luck.
“I swear to you. The future Martial Celestial Lord will be him.”
His head snapped clear.
Now that he thought about it, it all lined up.
The Martial Celestial Lord’s grandson. Unreal martial prowess. Mysterious abilities.
“But then... if soone like that exists, why is there even a competition for successor? Why not just give him the position outright?”
He couldn’t make sense of it.
If soone that monstrous existed, no one would even dare object to making him the successor on the spot.
Yang Gang replied with a serious expression, giving his own thoughts.
“Knowing the Martial Celestial Lord, he wouldn’t hand over the title so easily—not even to his own blood. Haven’t you heard the saying? ‘The more you cherish soone, the tougher you raise them.’ The Lord is creating rivals for him on purpose—to sharpen him.”
“Rivals?”
“Yeah. That’s why he created the whole successor competition—under the guise of legitimacy. It’s to trigger my lord’s competitive drive. But the successor seat already belongs to him. The other candidates will just end up as his subordinates.”
It made sense.
The other candidates ca from the Five Peak Martial Houses.
They had pooled all their power to support their chosen candidates, and those candidates had even gone into closed-door training to beco stronger.
But instead of competing with one another, they would beco Yeon Woo Jin’s prey.
And in the process, they’d be consud by him.
Just like they were.
That way, the Martial Celestial Lord would achieve two things at once.
He’d prove the overwhelming strength of his grandson—who defeated all the other candidates naturally.
And at the sa ti, he’d give his grandson a retinue of powerful followers without lifting a finger.
The Five Peak Martial Houses wouldn’t even be able to protest.
They had no grounds for it.
And protesting without grounds? That was a direct path to annihilation.
“Now do you get it? Just how big of an opportunity this is for you?”
Everyone’s expressions hardened as Yang Gang explained.
“From now on, we’ll be competing with the Baekyeong kids.”
Gulp.
“The mont we return, we’ll need to train until we bleed.”
“Do you think just training among ourselves will make us stronger?”
“My lord said he’d co check on us himself.”
“He said he’d co here?”
“That’s what he said... I tried to stop him, but he insisted it wasn’t far and that he’d co.”
Not far?
Even using high-speed movent techniques non-stop, it was a full day’s journey.
They themselves had taken two days to get here while conserving their stamina.
“If he says he’ll co, who am I to stop him? He’ll figure out how far it really is once he tries it. For now—let’s go.”
“Go where?”
“Where do you think? We have to go pay our respects to my lord.”
“Now?”
“He said to bring you. Why? You don’t want to go? You’re going to let this opportunity slip through your fingers?”
“N-No, I’m going. Of course I’m going.”
The situation was so sudden that they all followed Yang Gang with clumsy, hesitant steps.
****
The next day.
On the road back to the Eastern Hwangyong High Division, Pyeong Cheon and the top two underclassn walked in a daze.
Yang Gang looked at them and said,
“Why are you all walking around like you’ve lost your souls?”
“Huh? It’s just... what happened yesterday was so unreal.”
“Right? You saw them too, didn’t you, senior? The people we t yesterday... It was the first ti I’ve ever seen them in person.”
The reason they were all so dazed wasn’t just because they had t Yeon Woo Jin—but because they had co face-to-face with the legendary Heavenly Warlord of the Martial Celestial Army, the Overlord of the Shadow Abyss, and the Black Death God.
Colossal figures who served that one man.
And yet, they’d all been subdued—by Yeon Woo Jin.
After seeing that, all doubts had vanished.
They had pledged loyalty to Yeon Woo Jin from the bottom of their hearts.
Because they had realized what a trendous stroke of fortune this truly was.
Pyeong Cheon suddenly let out a dry chuckle.
Yang Gang, puzzled, tilted his head.
“What? What are you laughing at all of a sudden?”
“Just thought of the Northern brats.”
“...Ah.”
“They probably have no idea who’s down in the South.”
“Yeah, probably.”
“They’re probably still floating on clouds, thinking they’re about to beco the first group to unify the High Divisions of Mushincheon.”
“They would be.”
“Just imagining the look on their faces when they co charging in, full of bravado, only to be crushed... It’s already so satisfying.”
At Pyeong Cheon’s words, the others let out amused chuckles.
“When you put it like that, yeah... I can’t wait to see their faces when they panic.”
“Since our lord said he’d personally head to the North, let’s fully lock down the East while he’s gone—help contribute to his unification of Mushincheon’s High Divisions.”
“I like the sound of that. So you’re calling him ‘lord’ naturally now, huh?”
“Of course. He’s the one I’ll serve for the rest of my life. Don’t you agree?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Hahahaha!”
The other students from Hwangyong who were following behind couldn’t hear the conversation.
Yang Gang had deployed a qi barrier to block sound from leaking out.
The others didn’t know the details—but they understood the gist of it.
Hwangyong would now have ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ to answer to Baekyeong.
It was shaful, which was probably why the qi barrier was put up in the first place.
Still, the sight of Yeon Woo Jin at Baekyeong had left a deep impression on the Hwangyong kids.
They’d tried to talk about it among themselves afterward, but for so strange reason, they couldn’t explain what had happened.
It was like a dense fog had rolled over their mories.
No matter how hard they tried to focus and speak, the words wouldn’t co out.
After several failed attempts, they gave up.
It was a strange phenonon.
They walked, half-convinced they’d been collectively bewitched by sothing.
The day after arriving at Hwangyong High Division—
Yang Gang was startled out of his skin.
“M-My lord!”
“So this is Hwangyong High Division, huh.”
“W-When did you get here, sir? If you’d sent word ahead, I would’ve co out to greet you.”
“You’ll have to get used to it. I’ll always be coming and going like this.”
At Yeon Woo Jin’s words, Yang Gang looked apologetic.
“I didn’t expect you to co so soon, so we didn’t prepare anything.”
“What’s there to prepare? All I need is your presence.”
“Pardon? I ant preparations to welco you properly, my lord.”
“No need. Training hard and becoming stronger—that’s a better way to honor than any superficial courtesy.”
“Understood.”
“Is there a quiet place where I can train?”
“Yes! There’s a hidden spot I use for private training. I’ll guide you there.”
The location Yang Gang led him to was indeed isolated—perfect for solo cultivation.
“This’ll do. Now bring the others here.”
“Yes, my lord!”
Yang Gang dashed off to summon the others, and Yeon Woo Jin took a look around the training area.
Then, as he extended his hand, a bright light seeped up from the ground, forming an intricate sigil.
The sigil soon sank back into the earth and vanished.
Yeon Woo Jin smiled in satisfaction.
Just then, Yang Gang ca racing back with the other students, breath ragged, sprinting at full speed.
Loyal kids—more than he had expected.
Which made him like them even more.
It was the mont new mbers were added to his elite core.
Yeon Woo Jin intended to form a Transcendence Unit, comprised only of top-tier talents.
Unlike the Superhuman Unit, the Transcendence Unit would consist of his absolute inner circle.
They had to be stronger, better, sharper than anyone else.
And these ones t the standard.
Now, it was ti for their bodies to catch up.
Grinning, Yeon Woo Jin said,
“Since today’s the first day, let’s start by checking your physical condition.”
The students from Hwangyong answered energetically, completely unaware of what awaited them, and entrusted their bodies to him.
While examining Yang Gang, Yeon Woo Jin remarked,
“You tend to use your left side more when releasing qi.”
“Yes, that’s right! H-How did you know?”
“Your left qi ridian is more activated.”
“You can sense sothing like that? As expected! Mythic-level cultivation is on another level!”
“Huh? Who said I was Mythic-level?”
“You’re not? But you used Sky-Stepping that day. That’s a high-speed movent art only available to Mythic-level cultivators.”
“That’s true. But unfortunately, I’m not Mythic-level.”
“...What?”
“I’m currently Apex-Level.”
“...Excuse ?”
What the hell did that even an?
“Oh, I an in terms of rank classification, I’m Apex-Level. But in practice, I’m much stronger than that.”
Yang Gang had no idea what he was talking about.
‘Must be joking...’ he thought.
And tried to brush it off.
That was when—
Agonizing pain surged through his right arm.
“Gaaaah!”
Crunch.
His arm was twisted and forced inward.
“Ghhhaaaah!”
The excruciating pain made Yang Gang’s eyes roll back.
But Yeon Woo Jin didn’t stop.
“Your leg ridians are also extrely imbalanced.”
Crack.
“KEAAAAHH!!”
No matter how much pain they were in, Yeon Woo Jin simply went about his work in silence.
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