Chapter 21
Second Trial (3)
A tall tower located in the very center of the Changcheon Martial Arts Academy.
This tower was called the Tower of Martial Arts (武).
Perched on the roof at the very top of this tower, an old man was sipping liquor from a gourd bottle.
The gaze of the old man, who looked to be in his seventies, was fixed on the locations of the Second Trial and Third Trial, where the entrance exam was currently underway.
“Yes. That’s it. That’s how you do it.”
The old man nodded his head.
It was a distance an ordinary person could never see from, but in the old man’s eyes, the faces of everyone there were clearly visible.
“This year’s batch has more interesting kids than the last one. Don’t you think?”
A middle-aged man in purple formal robes appeared behind the old man.
The middle-aged man, with a stylish mustache and a strong impression, let out a deep sigh and spoke.
“I was looking all over for you, and here you are again?”
“How could I miss such a fine spectacle?”
“Why don’t you just go and observe the entrance exam directly?”
“I can see everything just fine from here, so why bother? It would just be a nuisance to the young friends.”
‘You’re being a nuisance right now.’
He had gone through so much trouble searching for him.
However, he dared not speak those words aloud.
The middle-aged man bowed his head and spoke politely.
“There will be a dinner with the final successful candidates shortly, so please join us then. Your grandchild is waiting, so if you keep staying here…”
Just then, the old man frowned and held out his hand.
It seemed to mean ‘be quiet’.
Puzzled, he saw the old man’s gaze was directed toward the place where the Lightness Skill Test, the Second Trial, was being held.
‘Can he really see that?’
Since he himself had not yet reached the same state as this old man, he could only see things blurrily.
Seeing things like this made him think that the world of martial arts was truly deep.
The middle-aged man asked cautiously.
“Is there some kind of problem?”
“Ho ho.”
At his question, the old man let out a continuous gasp of admiration and then took a swig from his gourd bottle before speaking.
“Interesting. Very interesting.”
“Pardon?”
“That Muha kid and the others will have to be on their toes this year.”
“What on earth do you mean by that?”
At the middle-aged man’s question, the old man shook his head, a mischievous expression on his face as he said,
“It’s no fun if you know now. You’ll see when the time comes.”
In the old man’s glittering eyes, the image of a boy was clearly reflected.
‘Did I overdo it a little?’
Mumu scratched his head.
He had watched the five people ahead of him, including Ha-ryun, cross the wooden posts of the artificial lake.
But he wasn’t confident he could cross by stepping on each wooden post like them without getting his pants or shoes wet.
So, he just jumped across in one go.
It was much simpler and easier this way.
‘It was the first time I’ve loosened the dial on my ankle. It feels refreshing.’
Mumu pulled down his rolled-up pant legs and quickly turned the dial on the Strength-Limiting Ring on his ankle back to ‘Eight’ (八).
Since his pants were baggy, the shrinking of his muscles wasn’t visible.
As Mumu pulled out his embedded feet, he said,
“Did I pass?”
At Mumu’s question, Supervisor Ga Yu-hang, who had been too shocked to speak, finally came to her senses and opened her mouth.
“What did you just do?”
“I jumped over.”
“Without even stepping on the wooden posts?”
“Yes.”
Mumu replied with a casual smile.
She had definitely thought he hadn’t even properly learned martial arts.
His steps were not the least bit elegant and a complete mess, so she had predicted he would naturally fall into the water, but that prediction was utterly wrong.
No, she had never predicted such a result at all.
Seeing Mumu like this, Supervisor Ga Yu-hang unknowingly swallowed her saliva and then asked,
“Who are you studying under as your master?”
She became curious about the master who had taught him.
“Master?”
Mumu tilted his head in confusion.
There was no one he could really call a teacher or a master.
“I don’t have one.”
“What did you say?”
He doesn’t have a master? What on earth did that mean?
She couldn’t understand.
“Then you mean you reached the state of Flight Over Water on your own?”
“F-Flight Over Water!”
Dang So-so couldn’t hide her astonishment at those words.
Flight Over Water (水上飛) literally meant flying over water, a term that originated from the fact that those who reached a high state of Lightness Skill could run by stepping on water.
A similar state was Stepping on Duckweed to Cross Water (登萍渡水), which came from the idea of crossing water by stepping on floating duckweed.
In any case, such a state was not a Lightness Skill that could be achieved by someone Mumu’s age.
“Master, is that really true?”
“Can’t you see?”
Supervisor Ga Yu-hang pointed at the artificial lake with her hand.
The water, hit by the wind pressure from Mumu’s jump across the lake, was overflowing on both sides like waves.
Thanks to that, the water level, which had originally been lapping at the very edge, had now been reduced to two-thirds of the artificial lake’s capacity.
‘He really parted the surface of the artificial lake.’
What she saw earlier wasn’t a hallucination.
Dang So-so looked back and forth between Mumu and the lake with a look of sincere admiration.
‘What are they talking about?’
Mumu had just done a long jump.
But they were saying hard-to-understand things like Flight Over Water and whatnot.
“Flight Over Water, what’s th… huh? You have a nosebleed.”
“Hup!”
At Mumu’s words, Dang So-so quickly covered her nose with a handkerchief.
The thought that Mumu’s martial prowess was as outstanding as his fresh face had momentarily excited her beyond control.
‘Oh, how embarrassing.’
She really needed to find a way to fix this tendency to get a nosebleed whenever she got a little excited. It was utterly mortifying.
Supervisor Ga Yu-hang sighed at her and said,
“It will be difficult to proceed with the exam like this. Go to the Head Supervisor and ask him to send personnel to refill the artificial lake.”
“Ah! You’re right.”
She had been so surprised that she hadn’t considered it.
With the water level lowered, it had become very advantageous for the next applicants to take the exam.
Thus, there was no choice but to refill the water.
“Hurry up.”
At Ga Yu-hang’s urgent prompting, Dang So-so had no choice but to hurry toward the main building.
It was a relief, as she was already embarrassed about having to block her nosebleed.
She hastily dashed toward the main building.
“Even if you’re in a hurry, your posture should be correct.”
“Ye-yes.”
“So clumsy. Hah.”
Shaking her head, Supervisor Ga Yu-hang spoke to Mumu again.
“Did you say you have no master who taught you?”
“Yes.”
At Mumu’s words, as if she had an idea, she asked,
“…What is your name, little brother?”
“Mumu.”
“Mumu? Is your family name Mu?”
“My father’s family name is Yu, so I guess it’s Yu Mumu?”
“Yu Mumu? Then do you have an older brother named Yu Jin-seong?”
“That’s right. Wow, that’s amazing. The supervisor ahju… supervisor before also guessed it. How on earth do you know?”
Mumu was amazed that they knew just from hearing his name.
Regardless, Supervisor Ga Yu-hang inwardly clicked her tongue.
‘So that’s it. That was it.’
When she heard that Yu Jin-seong’s younger brother had torn off the fortress gate, she had thought there was no greater exaggeration.
How could a mere applicant tear that off?
But right before her eyes, he had displayed a tremendous Lightness Skill by crossing the lake.
‘It’s not “a tiger father will not have a dog son” (虎父無犬子), but “a tiger brother will not have a dog younger brother” (虎兄無犬弟).’
With a tiger-like brother, there was no way the younger brother could be a dog.
Indeed, it was the martial talent befitting the younger brother of a graduate who had passed from the Changcheon Martial Arts Academy with the rank of Bang-an (Second Place).
Supervisor Ga Yu-hang elegantly raised the corners of her mouth and said,
“Excellent. Although the finish lacked some elegance, I shall refine that for you cleanly within this year.”
“Huh? Does that mean I passed?”
“Yes. I congratulate you on passing.”
At her words, Mumu raised both hands and cheered.
“I passed-daaaaaaa!”
‘To be so purely happy like this.’
Seeing his pure appearance, so different from his martial talent, Ga Yu-hang covered her mouth and chuckled.
He was a kid who somehow made others laugh.
However, purity was the epitome of crudeness.
She thought she would have to pay more attention and teach him for the sake of elegance.
Meanwhile, Jin-hyeok, who was tested directly by Supervisor Hakgyu, passed with flying colors.
According to him, Jin-hyeok had reached a state where he could open the Third Gate with his internal energy alone.
Of course, Jin-hyeok also knew what that meant.
Thanks to the Three Heroes of Jiangxi masters obtaining an elixir for him and performing Forcing Ki Through Acupoints, his internal energy was nearing the peak, but he still lacked enlightenment.
‘I must work harder.’
Just from the academy enrollment exam, he realized how many strong individuals there were compared to him.
To catch up to them, his current efforts were far from enough.
His fighting spirit thus rekindled, Jin-hyeok, though he had passed first, waited for Mo Il-hwa to pass.
After all, the Minister of Punishments had asked him to.
“Oh my. You waited? Why would you do that.”
He had gone to the trouble of waiting, but her words were deflating.
Jin-hyeok sighed and said,
“Let’s hurry. By now, that guy should be taking the Second Trial.”
“Right! I need to catch that Mumu kid and give him a piece of my mind.”
She had been holding a grudge against him anyway.
Even if his strength was ridiculously immense, shouldn’t he have shown some consideration for the people behind him?
Thus, the two of them hurried through the trial gate, passed the walled path, and entered the plaza.
Not long after entering the plaza, the artificial lake became visible to them between the straightly planted tree-lined path.
“Why is the ground so muddy here?”
The area around the artificial lake was all like this, as if water had overflowed.
Jin-hyeok frowned.
‘What is this? This feeling of dread?’
A strange sense of dread, similar to when Mumu tore off the fortress gate, began to creep up on him.
But looking at the wooden posts sticking out of the artificial lake, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
It might just be a useless worry.
The two of them walked along the side of the artificial lake and approached the incense burner.
A stern-looking woman standing there with her hands behind her back came into view.
“Are you perhaps the supervisor?”
“You’re late.”
The woman who had said that raised her eyes and then corrected herself.
“No, you’re not. It would have been fine to come even later.”
“Pardon?”
To the two puzzled people, Supervisor Ga Yu-hang pointed at the artificial lake with her finger and said,
“Thanks to one applicant, the water of the artificial lake overflowed, so the exam will likely be delayed. It’s unfortunate for you two, but please wait over there.”
“What?”
“Wait again?”
They had just barely made it to the Second Trial, what kind of bolt from the blue was this?
But in Jin-hyeok’s ears, the supervisor’s words that the artificial lake’s water had overflowed thanks to one applicant stuck in his mind more than the fact that they had to wait.
So, just in case, he asked,
“Excuse me… Supervisor. By any chance, is that applicant Mumu?”
At his words, her eyes showed an unusual light as she replied,
“How did you know?”
‘!!!’
At these words, Jin-hyeok’s and Mo Il-hwa’s faces crumpled like paper at the same time.
As if tempting fate, it was Mumu again.
At the same time, Mumu was heading toward the Third Trial, following a sign.
But in the middle of the path, someone was waiting for Mumu.
It was none other than Ha-ryun.
Spotting him, Mumu waved his hand.
“We meet again. I passed too!”
At his bright, smiling face, Ha-ryun gritted his teeth.
To think he had hidden himself behind that innocent face, he was a truly terrifying bastard.
His Third Master from Baeksagok had always warned him.
He must be wary of those who hide a snake’s treachery behind a smiling face.
‘That bastard is one of them.’
It wasn’t just the successors of the Four Great Grandmasters he had to be wary of.
It was impossible to predict what level his martial prowess was at, so he was a target to be even more cautious of.
However, he couldn’t show that right now.
‘For now, I’ll make him let his guard down.’
Ha-ryun erased the wary look and emotion from his eyes as much as possible, and though it was unfamiliar, he put on the biggest smile he could and raised his hand.
“Congratulations. I didn’t know you were such an incredible guy.”
Mumu looked at him, puzzled, and asked,
“Thanks. But why are you still holding your hand up?”
“It’s a new trend in the capital city recently.”
“The capital city?”
“I heard that people from the Western Regions, when they congratulate each other on victory or success, raise their hands and slap their palms together hard.”
As he said that, Ha-ryun’s eyes sparkled.
Mumu couldn’t see it, but a very thin needle was wedged between his fingers.
It was coated with poison, and he planned to use this to slowly poison the guy and bring him to his knees.
“Oh, is that so? Then I guess I should follow the trend.”
Without any suspicion, Mumu swung his palm toward Ha-ryun’s.
-SLAAAP!
‘!?’
At the impact that shot through his palm, Ha-ryun’s eyes widened as if they would pop out.
Then, his body toppled to the ground.
-THUD!
A sound like the air being knocked out of his lungs escaped Ha-ryun’s open mouth.
When he slowly turned his head to look at his palm, it had turned purple, beyond just being red.
It seemed like it was cracked, not just bruised.
‘Th… th… you… son of a…’
It was a stupid amount of power.
Shouldn’t he have hit it moderately?
For a moment, he almost jumped up and launched an assassin’s counterattack at the bastard.
The only consolation was that the guy had slapped his palm without any suspicion and had been pricked by the nee…
‘What’s this?’
The needle had bent and dug into the flesh of his own palm.
‘!!!!!!!’
