Chapter 18
First Trial (3)
Mumu smacked his lips, still holding the ripped-out castle gate.
‘Ah… I’ve caused trouble.’
He had only meant to open the castle gate, but he had unintentionally ripped it out.
It seemed he had really gotten himself into some serious trouble.
‘Is this very expensive?’
Judging by how quiet his surroundings were, it might just be.
Feeling self-conscious, Mumu, holding the gate, fell into thought about what he should do with it.
Unlike Mumu, who was worrying about such trivial things, Jin-hyeok, Mo Il-hwa, and Haeryang were so astonished that their mouths hung open, at a loss for words.
They had naturally assumed Mumu would fail this exam.
Since it was a gate that could only be opened with internal energy, they thought that no matter how strong he was, there was nothing he could do about this.
However, the result was a shock in itself.
Mo Il-hwa, who was the first to come to her senses, pointed at Mumu and said.
“That guy! That guy! H-He ripped the castle gate off. Do you see?”
How could they not see?
‘Crazy…’
Jin-hyeok was genuinely dumbfounded.
Even if he possessed monstrous strength, wasn’t this really going too far?
That castle gate was the joint creation of two geniuses called the Three Great Masters in the Murim, Manbakja and Jegal Powon, who had poured countless Mechanical Formation Style devices into it.
And yet, he had managed to smash it with sheer force.
‘Mumu, just what are you…’
It was completely beyond common sense.
What on earth did his father, Yu Yeop-gyeong, pick up while in exile?
“Y-Young Master Jin-hyeok… D-Didn’t you say your brother… d-didn’t learn any martial arts?”
Haeryang of the Haomun Information Sect asked, stuttering as if he couldn’t believe it.
It seemed the result, which had surpassed all expectations, had caused an overload on his tongue.
Just like Haeryang, similar reactions were spreading in all directions.
The area in front of the castle gate had turned into a cauldron of chaos.
“Wh-What’s going on?”
“Did he break the castle gate?”
“Didn’t they say he hasn’t even learned martial arts?”
“No. Is that even possible if you did learn martial arts?”
“Damn it. How should I know?”
“Even the successors of the Four Great Grandmasters couldn’t rip the gate out like that, could they?”
“My point exactly!”
Just then, someone shouted urgently.
“Huh? Wh-What is that bastard doing now?”
Everyone’s gaze turned to Mumu in unison.
Holding the massive castle gate, which was about 16 cheok tall, combining the First Gate to the Third Gate, Mumu was staggering backward toward them, wondering where to put it down.
‘!?’
“Hey, guys. Sorry, but I need to put this down, so please move aside.”
Startled by Mumu’s shout, the examinees began to stir.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa?”
“D-Don’t come over here! There’s no room to back up!”
“Hey, hey! I told you, th-there are too many people here…”
-Whoosh!
“Uwaaah!”
“M-Move!”
Most of the examinees gathered there were between 5 and 6 cheok tall.
As the massive gate, nearly three times their height, flew toward them like some kind of fan, the examinees who had been surrounding the front of the gate in a semicircle backed away in fright.
The scene resembled a wave of people surging back.
-Whoosh! Whoosh!
Every time the ripped-out gate moved, chaos erupted as people dodged left and right, and the area in front of the castle wall turned into a complete mess.
“What a real handful. Master… what on earth is that bastard?”
Yeon Nam-gyeong, who was watching from atop the castle wall, said with a look of disbelief.
Seeing him, Supervisor Hakgyu snapped back in irritation.
“How should I know!”
He was just as flabbergasted.
He had thought some country bumpkin who hadn’t even learned martial arts was just showing off, but who would have known he would rip out a gate connected by a Mechanical Formation Style?
This was a first in the history of the Changcheon Martial Arts Academy’s founding.
“Master. More importantly, what do we do?”
At Yeon Nam-gyeong’s words, Supervisor Hakgyu frowned.
It was his first time in such a situation, so he was at a loss as to how to judge it.
The kid had clearly said he hadn’t learned martial arts, yet he forcibly tore off the gate.
‘Did he really not learn martial arts?’
Even if he had, it was still a problem.
Even the successors of the Four Great Grandmasters had only managed to open the gate.
But that bastard had ripped the gate off entirely.
‘If it were about destroying the gate, one might manage it with an ultimate technique, but is it possible to rip it out like that?’
Honestly, he wasn’t confident.
Simple pushing or pulling strength was bound to be weaker than a strike.
A strike, after all, was literally adding speed to power to create an explosion.
‘Which means that kid’s internal energy might even surpass mine…’
It was hard to admit.
That was an impossibility.
‘There’s no way.’
There was a limit to the internal energy one could possess at that age.
Unless it was a truly special case, surpassing that limit was impossible.
‘No other choice.’
After some thought, Supervisor Hakgyu made a decision.
There was no other way but to check for himself.
-THUD!
Just then, a loud noise came from below the gate, along with a slight vibration.
Looking down, he saw that Mumu had finally set down the gate he had been carrying after parting the crowd.
And he was fiddling with something on his wrist.
‘What is he doing?’
Shaking his head at the sight, Hakgyu soon leaped down from the castle wall.
-Swish!
He jumped from that high place but landed lightly.
Then, he imbued his voice with internal power and let out a roar like a Lion’s Roar so that all could hear.
“ROAR!!!”
-Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar!
Hakgyu’s voice spread in all directions like thunder.
At that, the area in front of the gate, which had been a cauldron of chaos with people running around because of Mumu, finally quieted down.
The supervisor, who had only been peeking his head out to watch throughout the First Trial, had appeared in front of the gate for the first time, so everyone couldn’t help but be tense.
‘Ah…’
Mumu was also inwardly tense.
‘Father told me not to cause trouble.’
He felt self-conscious, as if he had smashed someone else’s front door.
He wondered what he would do if they asked him to fix it or demanded payment for the gate.
His father, Yu Yeop-gyeong, had always told him to respond calmly in times like these.
Mumu hurriedly bent his waist in half and shouted.
“I’m sorry!”
“What?”
Supervisor Hakgyu furrowed his brows.
He couldn’t understand why this kid was suddenly apologizing.
To the bewildered supervisor, Mumu said.
“I was really just trying to open the gate, but it somehow broke. I definitely didn’t mean to break it on purpose.”
‘Broke somehow?’
He was utterly speechless.
Was he being so wary because he had broken the gate?
He couldn’t figure this kid out.
Since the examinees were watching, Hakgyu, in order to maintain his dignity, spoke in a rather stern voice.
“Never mind that. How did you do it?”
“Pardon?”
“Are you hiding something?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Are you pretending not to know? Do you think you can break this with just strength alone?”
At his question, Mumu stared intently at Hakgyu’s face.
‘…Is he saying that so he can make me pay for it?’
He had a hard time understanding what was being said.
If he was doing this to make him pay for the damages, it would be quite troublesome.
If a bill was sent to Yu Yeop-gyeong, who had just returned from exile, a disaster might occur where he would be told to come home immediately.
Mumu, who had been lost in thought, cautiously opened his mouth.
“Maybe it’s because the gate was so old that things like the hinges were all worn out?”
‘…’
Hakgyu couldn’t help but snort.
No matter how broken it was, it couldn’t be torn off with simple strength.
He had been annoyed by this bastard talking back to him from the start, and now he was spouting nonsense.
‘Does this bastard really think that makes sense… Ha. No.’
It seemed better to check for himself rather than argue with words.
Hakgyu strode toward Mumu and said.
“I will check for myself.”
“Check what?”
“Hold out your hand.”
Mumu had no idea what was going on.
He didn’t know why he was being told to hold out his hand, but worried he might be asked to pay for damages, he obediently extended his arm.
‘Look at this bastard.’
Hakgyu looked at Mumu with narrowed eyes.
He hadn’t noticed from above, but the muscles on his rolled-up sleeve’s wrist and arm were incredible.
The sight of them twitching and writhing in detail was impossible to ignore.
‘Just how does one train to get like this?’
Hakgyu was a master of Fist Arts, known in the Murim as the Solid Fist Hegemon.
As a master of bare-handed martial arts, he emphasized the balance between internal and external arts.
And yet, even his muscles were not this developed.
-Gulp!
Hakgyu swallowed without realizing it.
He wondered how much a kid with a body trained to this extent would grow if he properly trained in Fist Arts.
‘Hmph. No.’
He then shook his head from side to side.
For a moment, he was taken by the kid’s developed muscles and was about to covet him as a disciple.
Right now, he was in the position of a supervisor.
-Grab!
Hakgyu grabbed Mumu’s wrist.
‘Ah… this bastard.’
Grabbing his wrist, the form of the muscles was even more apparent.
His heart pounded so much at the superb muscle density that he almost let out a gasp of admiration.
However, he tried his best not to show it and circulated his internal energy.
He had to check if he had learned martial arts, after all.
However,
‘!?’
Hakgyu couldn’t hide his bewilderment.
‘No? Is it for real?’
This kid really hadn’t learned martial arts.
He had no dantian, and there were no traces of having learned internal energy in his meridians.
If one had trained their internal energy and performed Ki Circulation and Regulation, the turbid ki in the meridians should have been cleared away at least a little, but his were clogged and hardened like a normal person’s.
That meant he had really torn off the castle gate with pure strength alone.
‘Unbelievable.’
It was hard to believe.
As he frowned for a long time in bewilderment, Mumu asked.
“Um… How long are you going to hold on?”
“Ah!”
Hakgyu let go of the wrist he was holding.
And he stared intently at Mumu’s face.
‘Did he really rip off the gate of measurement with just strength alone?’
If he had said he learned martial arts, it would have been understandable, thinking that an unimaginable genius had arrived.
But this was something he couldn’t accept at all.
It made him wonder if the gate’s mechanical device had actually broken.
His head throbbing from the complexity, Hakgyu finally opened his mouth.
“Did you say your name was Mumu?”
“Yes.”
“Since the gate is broken, there’s no way to check again, so I’ll test your strength myself. Try to endure it.”
“Endure what?”
“Endure it so you don’t fall over.”
-Whoosh!
Hakgyu shot out his hand like a flash of lightning and once again grabbed Mumu’s wrist.
‘Huh?’
Mumu was amazed by the incredibly fast hand movement.
Of all the people he had seen so far, Hakgyu seemed to be the fastest.
Hakgyu slightly twisted the wrist he had snatched and tried to topple Mumu using a Seizing Arts technique.
In response, Mumu put strength into his legs to keep from falling.
‘Hoh. Look at this kid.’
Hakgyu’s eyes narrowed as he applied force with 30% of his internal power.
He was truly enduring with pure muscle strength alone.
He himself had reached the entrance to the Transcendent Stage, and if he used this much internal energy, even a decent first-rate master wouldn’t be able to withstand it easily.
‘Then…’
Hakgyu slowly raised his internal power.
This time, it was 40% power.
‘Ugh?’
At the strengthened force, Mumu put more strength into his legs and wrist.
‘He’s enduring this too?’
Hakgyu clicked his tongue.
This amount was almost the internal power of someone at the entrance to the Peak Stage.
But to endure it with pure strength was astonishing.
Hakgyu became even more interested.
He instantly raised his internal power to 60%.
‘Someone who hasn’t properly reached the Peak Stage will find this hard to block. Can you really block this with strength too?’
-Crack!
Cracks formed on the ground, centered on the soles of Mumu’s feet.
The examinees watched, holding their breath.
The veins on Mumu’s arm muscles were bulging.
‘This ahjussi is strong.’
This was a force almost on par with Jin-hyeok’s masters whom he had seen last time.
Back then, hadn’t he turned the dial of his Strength-Limiting Ring to six to shake them off when they were being annoying?
If he got any stronger here, he might not be able to hold on without turning the Strength-Limiting Ring like he did then.
It was at that moment.
‘An amazing kid. You’re making me use up to 70% of my internal power.’
70% internal power was at the edge of the Peak Realm, high enough to glimpse the Transcendent Peak.
Hakgyu slowly raised his internal power.
At that moment, Mumu couldn’t withstand it and fell to the ground.
-CRASH!
The ground caved in, perfectly matching the shape of Mumu lying down.
Lying on the ground, Mumu’s eyes sparkled.
With an ahjussi of this level, he felt he could withstand a test of strength even if he turned the Strength-Limiting Ring to six.
‘Should I ask for a rematch?’
As he was contemplating, Hakgyu clicked his tongue, then extended a hand and said.
“Amazing kid. I’m ashamed of myself.”
“Pardon?”
“All this time, while teaching that the balance between internal and external arts must be right, I’ve pushed internal energy training more, but seeing you, I now understand the importance of external arts training.”
He had no idea what he was talking about.
As Mumu got up, looking puzzled, Hakgyu continued.
“You are more than qualified to pass the first trial of the Changcheon Martial Arts Academy’s entrance exam. Hurry and go inside.”
“Go inside?”
“Yes. I, Solid Fist Hegemon Hakgyu, the supervisor of the first trial, guarantee it.”
Hakgyu said gallantly, thumping his chest.
“Then… do I not have to pay for the castle gate?”
“Pay for it?”
At Mumu’s worried question, Hakgyu burst out laughing.
He thought, what kind of kid is this?
To think he’d been so wary all this time because he thought he’d be asked to pay for the gate, he had an innocent side, unlike how he looked.
“Were you worried that I’d make you pay for this?”
“It looked a bit expensive.”
“It is expensive. It’s priceless, but what can be done if it happened during an exam? Don’t worry about it and go on to the next stage.”
“It’s really okay, right?”
Worried he might go back on his word, Mumu confirmed again.
Hakgyu nodded, saying it was fine, then asked out of curiosity.
“By the way, is your surname Mu and your name also Mu?”
“No. It’s just my name.”
“So you don’t have a surname?”
“My father is from the Yu clan, so it must be Yu, right?”
“Yu clan? May I ask for your father’s honorable name?”
There were a few masters among those with the surname Yu who were famous in the Murim.
He asked because the density and form of his muscles were too excellent for someone who had trained alone.
To this, Mumu replied.
“My father’s honorable name? It’s Yeop and Gyeong.”
“Yu Yeop-gyeong?”
He’d heard that name somewhere.
Lost in thought for a moment, Hakgyu soon recalled it.
‘Oh?’
He was sure that the name of the father of Yu Jin-seong, who graduated from the Changcheon Martial Arts Academy as the Second Scorer, was Yu Yeop-gyeong.
The incident where he became a Censor Inspector and cleared his father’s name was quite famous, so he was certain.
“Are you by any chance related to Yu Jin-seong, the Censor Inspector of the Office of the Censorate?”
“He’s probably my hyung.”
“Ha!”
At Mumu’s answer, Hakgyu stroked his beard and let out a gasp of admiration.
‘So that’s how it was. I must have seen wrong earlier. This kid was that kid.’
He thought there couldn’t be a younger brother as good as the older brother, but his prediction was wrong.
What a truly amazing family.
He had heard they weren’t even a prestigious martial family to begin with, yet they had sent another prodigy of a different kind to the Changcheon Martial Arts Academy.
Hakgyu looked at Mumu with a pleased expression and said.
“Indeed, you are just as the rumors say. I’ll be looking forward to your future.”
