Chung Myung clicked his tongue, looking at the Baek and Chung disciples in front of the dorm.

“… Just…”

The disciples of Mount Hua, whose faces were half-tired, were gagging and shaking their bodies.

“…Sasuk.”

“Uh?”

“Where else did you sell your sword this time?”

“…”

Baek Cheon glanced down at his waist.

His real sword was nowhere to be found, and only a wooden sword dangled from his waist.

“Did you do it again?”

“…”

When Baek Cheon couldn’t answer, Chung Myung shook his head.

“A good thing. A good thing.”

Fighting against Yado, his sword had been ruined again. Of course, it hadn’t broken like last time; rather, the once smooth blade now looked like a saw.

“I heard that you got a sword from somewhere again! You did it again!”

Baek Cheon averted his eyes from Chung Myung’s gaze and blinked.

The problem was that Baek Cheon was not the only person.

“Wooden sword men.”

“…”

At the words of Chung Myung, those who had been quietly paying attention to their surroundings raised their hands one by one. Almost half of the people raised their hands, and Chung Myung touched his forehead,

“You have been doing so well, so very well.”

Chung Myung’s face began to turn red, and he started to shout as if he had been waiting,

“Famous swordsmen use their swords all their life and our little ones throw theirs out right away? A sword made specifically by the Tang Family! Huh? You idiots who cannot earn even a pretty penny!”

“…we got them for free!”

“Shut up!”

Jo Gul, who said that, went silent as he flinched at the sight of shouting Chung Myung.

“If you fought just one more time, then maybe we could have put your swords in their graves. Tch tch.”

At the sound of his tongue clicking, the disciples of Mount Hua pouted.

‘No, it wasn’t like that!’

‘What is so important about it!’

Of course, they had excuses they liked too.

Most of the people who invaded had used heavy weapons like large blades, long swords, and heavy spears.

On the other hand, Mount Hua’s plum swords were lighter than normal swords, and that made it easier to use Mount Hua’s techniques.

With a thin and light sword against everyone’s heavy weapons? Their swords not breaking would have been more shocking.

But Chung Myung didn’t seem to like that.

‘I didn’t think of this.’

These disciples had never had to fight against others with their lives on the line before. Where was the place that had managed to stand tall when the Chung Disciples with Chung Myung numbered thirty? Did they ever let anyone stand tall for long?

And due to that, Chung Myung overlooked the small things. These kids were not at a level to fully handle their swords.

If the battle had lasted a little longer and their swords were starting to break, it was clear that casualties would have increased by a lot.

“Kuak.”

Chung Myung scratched his head.

‘I need to do something about this.’

Just as Chung Myung began thinking of a solution, Jo Gul raised his hand and said,

“But…”

“Uh?”

“Why are you standing there? It is training time.”

“Uh? You didn’t hear?”

“… what?”

Chung Myung smiled and was about to say something, but the door to the hall opened up, and Un Geom entered.

In an instant, strength entered the disciple’s bodies.

“Has everyone gathered?”

“Yes!”

His voice was booming.

Even in the past, Mount Hua’s disciples relied on and followed Un Geom. Since the appearance of Chung Myung, they had never ignored or turned away from this man despite learning everything from Chung Myung.

But the eyes of the disciples looked at Un Geom differently from the past.

Didn’t they all see that?

The scene where Un Geom gave his life to protect them.

If the disciples had eyes and emotions, then their attitude was bound to change from before.

“I like the spirit.”

Un Geom smiled.

His complexion was pale, but he seemed to have regained some of his health, which was clearly making it difficult to move.

Looking around at the disciples, he quietly opened his mouth,

“As you know, I am not perfect.”

At those calm words, the disciples had sad expressions.

“Normally, I am the one in charge of the White Plum Blossom Boarding House, but with my current physical condition, it is difficult to teach you.”

“It is alright, Master!”

“Do not worry and rest!”

“We will not laze around!”

“Health comes first!”

The disciples all shouted words of encouragement.

Un Geom smiled,

“Thank you.”

But he couldn’t do what they said.

“That is why I cannot leave training to your own will. Aren’t you already doing enough self-training? So…”

Un Geom turned his head,

“From now until I recover my body…”

Seeing where his gaze landed, the disciples trembled.

“…why is he looking there?”

“It cannot be.”

“Eh… as if.”

However, Un Geom betrayed their expectations,

“Until my body is fully healed, I will appoint Chung Myung as the temporary instructor of the White Plum Blossom Boarding House and will entrust him with the training of the Baek and Chung disciples.”

“Master!”

“No, why would you do that!”

“Was your head hurt?”

“No, you brat!”

“Kuak!”

Yoon Jong hit Jo Gul on the head with a bamboo stick, and he fell down to the ground.

Yoon Jong, who told Jo Gul to stay in his line with one hit, said,

“Ah, No, Master. Just once more, think about this!”

Of course, it was true that the Baek and Chung disciples had been training under Chung Myung, but that was only additional training after their basic training was finished.

And now that madman would run this boarding house?

This was not being used as bait, rather, it was being set right inside the cage of a tiger.

“Huh?”

Chung Myung clicked his tongue at their solemn expressions,

“Tch tch. The disciples of the sect acting like this! Where else can we find disciples who don’t want to follow the words of their instructor!”

“Who is the one who turned this sect like this!”

“Did you sell your conscience in Xi’an!”

“…No, Sasuk. You cannot say that… he never had it to sell it.”

“Ah, right.”

Looking at this messy situation, Un Geom said,

“You will be embarrassed by this but understand. I will finish resting and come back as soon as possible.”

“N-No! What do you mean as soon as possible? You need to rest well so the wound doesn’t get worse!”

“Right! Take a good rest and slowly… no, come back quickly…. no, not that, just… I don’t know.”

Jo Gul covered his face, making Un Geom smile, expecting this kind of reaction.

“Haven’t we been lost for a while? It is something we didn’t want to reveal as much as possible, but I felt something in my own way during the rough path we went through. The most important thing is skill.”

At that, everyone nodded.

“So be diligent.”

Saying that Un Geom looked at Chung Myung, nodding as he turned back.

The remaining disciples looked dumbfounded.

“I feel like Sasuk should also go recover…”

“Right. That is right.”

“…why did it have to be that one?”

Actually, what they were saying was quite understandable.

There was no one to replace Un Geom among the Un disciples as they lacked martial arts; it wasn’t like Un Geom was that amazing either.

So, the next logical person to lead the boarding house would have been Hyun Sang, but the elder had been severely poisoned, and his body hadn’t fully recovered.

So, the one left was…

“Why did that bastard have to be healthy?”

“Right, why is he that energetic after so many wounds!”

Jo Gul turned,

“This is Soso’s fault!”

“What did I do?”

“Isn’t this a result of your fantastic treatment! Take responsibility…”

“Jo Gul, shut up before I stitch it shut for you.”

“Yes.”

It was necessary to put an end to this commotion. But the very moment he was ready to speak…

“Quiet!”

“…”

All the disciples looked at Baek Cheon, making them flinch at his gaze.

“What is it that you don’t like?”

Baek Cheon shouted,

“Has pride taken shelter within you?”

“No!”

“You think you can speak because we defeated three units of a clan?”

“N-No Sasuk!”

“Definitely not!”

His eyes were like that of a tiger’s.

“What did you even get when fighting them?”

“…”

“I felt how short I was and how far I need to go. Do you still not realize it? We lack the strength to punish them! If we had enough strength, then Sect Leader would have led us to Guangxi right then!”

To be precise, it would have been Chung Myung, not Hyun Jong.

“Even so, you don’t know shame and are making such small complaints? I cannot imagine thinking about anything other than raising my skill by training harder! Since when have you guys become so great?”

At his angry words, the disciples lowered their heads. Their hearts had been elated, defeating an enemy that was known to be cruel and vicious.

“Chung Myung!”

“Uh? Yes.”

“There is no need to go easy!” said Baek Cheon with firm eyes.

“We are extremely lacking right now. We know that this battle was simply won through luck! So do not go easy on us and train us hard! So no one gets hurt and dies on us!”

“…”

Chung Myung opened his mouth…

Uh…

That is what I was trying to say, but…

Uh…

It was strange, it was really strange.

It wasn’t much different from what Chung Myung was trying to say, but after hearing him say it, why….

‘Does it sound so disgusting?’

Ah… was this how others feel when listening to me?

Chung Myung was speechless at this, and Baek Cheon urged him forward,

“What are you doing!”

“Ah! Yes!”

Chung Myung, who was asked again, nodded and cleared his throat.

“What Sasuk said is right. This time we got lucky. And we have to fight even stronger enemies starting now.”

“…”

“As everyone must have felt this time, in the end, the only thing that can protect us is our abilities. We need to get stronger!”

Srng.

Chung Myung drew his sword,

“To do that, we need to start from the basics.”

His real sword and wooden sword were drawn at once. Looking into the now serious eyes of the disciples, Chung Myung smiled.

‘Now I feel like I can push again.’

Well, fine.

Now should we see how stubborn you are since you said so?

‘Let’s start!’

“This is Mount Hua.”

Two men were looking at Mount Hua.

One man stood in front and the other behind. It was a very strange sight.

Judging from the way he was talking, the person in the front seemed to have a higher status, but his clothes were plain as if he had just come back from the fields.

“Gye Hyung.”

“Yes, Young Leader.”

“Are you sure the person with the sect leader seal is on Mount Hua?”

“Yes!”

“Eum.”

The one called young leader had a contorted expression.

“I still do not understand it. This is Mount Hua, a sect that walks on a righteous path! And they robbed away the seal of another sect and asked them to come here!”

“As I said, it is a disciple of Mount Hua…”

“Enough!”

When the young leader screamed, Gye Hyung shook his head.

“I heard Mount Hua defeated the Ten Thousand People Clan. It has become a much stronger place worth being talked about. But I have no intention of listening to them! I will ask the truth about this matter!”

The Ghost Clan and its young leader.

Ghost Spirit Hand, Do Un-Chan, began to climb Mount Hua. And Gye-hyung silently covered his face with both hands.

‘Once you experience it, you will know.’

What going there meant.