Chapter 7

Smack! Crack!

The long-haired, handsome boy, who was clearly the Mount Hua disciple, struck his opponent’s head and arm one after another even after he had already fallen.

“Urgh! Aaaah!”

The sword flew out of the other boy’s hand.

The boy wearing a headband couldn’t even recover his stance before more attacks landed.

Thrust!

The wooden sword pierced straight into his chest.

Without stopping, the boy smoothly linked one movement into another.

His sword traced beautiful plum blossom patterns through the air.

“Gah!”

His opponent was thrown completely off the arena.

The handsome boy finished his technique as his long hair fluttered in the wind.

“Wow…”

No one needed to tell me which one was the Mount Hua disciple.

The handsome one attacked so overwhelmingly that the other boy couldn’t block a single strike.

The difference in skill was enormous.

“AAAAH! I surrender! I surrender!”

Even though he seemed to be holding back because it was only a sparring match…

The boy with the headband cried as his arm bent at an unnatural angle.

Oh dear.

His fundamentals weren’t even solid.

“Mount Hua disciple Eun-hyeon wins.”

Oh.

So his name was Eun-hyeon.

As soon as the instructor announced the result, he immediately stopped moving.

“Would you like to continue with your next match immediately?”

“Yes.”

“It will begin in fifteen minutes. Prepare yourself. Yoo Gwon of the Zhongnan Sect may leave now. If you require treatment, report to Black Rock Hall.”

Eun-hyeon bowed respectfully to the instructor.

Then he walked over to the opponent he had defeated.

“Thank you for the lesson.”

“U… uh…”

He cupped his fists and bowed.

Ah.

That was the proper etiquette after a sparring match.

I knew that.

But no one in the Ice Palace really bothered with such formalities, so I had forgotten.

“Tsk. He’s just pretending.”

Maeng Ryeong-ji clicked her tongue.

“Is it really that bad?”

I tilted my head.

If I had fought seriously, my opponent would’ve ended up in much worse condition.

For someone from one of the Nine Great Sects, it seemed he had shown enough mercy.

Of course, if he’d wanted to be even gentler, he could have struck the sword instead of the arm.

And hitting the boy in the chest hard enough to crack ribs afterward might have been excessive.

Still…

Once you stepped onto the arena, you accepted that risk.

“Maybe he simply wanted to show the instructor his complete technique.”

I shrugged.

To me, it looked as though Eun-hyeon had done his best to impress the instructors while still holding back.

Maeng Ryeong-ji remained expressionless.

“Perhaps.”

“Well… that boy was just unlucky enough to face a Mount Hua disciple.”

Since applicants were fighting one after another and the winner continued advancing, the entrance exam seemed to follow a tournament format.

Hmm.

If the headband boy had fought someone closer to his own level instead of this monster…

Maybe he could have shown something impressive.

“Ahem… that’s not exactly true.”

Although I had only been talking to myself, three boys standing nearby glanced toward me and joined the conversation.

“The academy is actually more lenient toward applicants from smaller sects. Every year they practically force themselves to accept at least ten of them.”

“It’s all because Master Seongak wants to give everyone a chance to enter the Heavenly Martial Academy.”

Ah.

So that was how it worked.

Seeing the admission tokens hanging proudly from their waists, I guessed they were future classmates like us.

“Did you come to watch the Mount Hua disciple too?”

Even though they had spoken loudly enough for everyone to hear…

The moment I addressed them directly, all three jumped in surprise.

“Y-Yes! My name is Pung Seung!”

“I’m Shim Yang-oh!”

…I hadn’t even asked for their names.

Yet they blushed, clasped their hands politely, and introduced themselves.

“Which sect are you from?”

“I was recommended by the Murong Family!”

“Ahem! His brother-in-law might even become the Young Family Head of the Murong Family someday!”

Just as I expected.

They were future classmates.

Their surname wasn’t Murong, so they were probably distant relatives, connected by marriage, or from a subordinate family.

“Ahem… We’ve never seen such a beautiful young lady in Liaoning before…”

“W-Would it be alright if we asked your… no, your ladies’ names?”

Maeng Ryeong-ji looked them up and down.

The moment the three boys shrank back under her gaze, she immediately lost interest.

“I’m Seol Su-ryeo.”

“I-I see, Miss Su-ryeo. We came to observe Eun-hyeon’s skills, but his opponents have all been too weak. It’s rather disappointing.”

“The entrance exam usually isn’t very exciting. The truly talented young martial artists only appear during the Heavenly Martial Tournament, the Rank Battle Tournament, or the Martial Star Festival held for academy students.”

That certainly seemed true.

It would’ve been much more interesting if Eun-hyeon had faced someone capable of pushing him.

If I used my ice techniques… could I beat someone like him?

I narrowed my eyes and tried to estimate everyone’s level.

The strongest young genius of the Murong Family might very well be stronger than I was.

But they couldn’t possibly send the very strongest child of every generation to the academy.

Maybe I could at least beat one of the branch family members.

Although having the Nine Yin Severed Meridians was a serious disadvantage…

It also made my body perfectly suited for ice martial arts.

Back home, I had always been called the Ice Palace’s greatest genius.

“Mount Hua’s Eun-hyeon versus Gong Yeong of the Jinyong Sect. Begin.”

While we had been chatting, the arena had already been cleaned.

The instructor announced the next match.

One contestant was naturally Eun-hyeon.

His opponent was a boy at least a head taller than him who had won his previous match.

A spear? I haven’t fought many spear users…

Before I could finish thinking…

Eun-hyeon dodged the incoming spear.

Whoosh!

He immediately lowered his body.

Then slashed toward his opponent’s shin.

“AAAAH!”

“He couldn’t even last ten exchanges!”

“Finish him!”

Was that an official technique?

Or an improvised move?

The spear user screamed.

The match ended even faster than the previous one.

“His footwork fundamentals are terrible!”

Pung Seung criticized the spear user’s technique.

“That ended rather quickly.”

I thought the instructor would announce the winner immediately.

Apparently, however, simply knocking someone down wasn’t enough under the rules.

Ah… just like before.

It wasn’t over yet.

Just as in the previous match, Eun-hyeon demonstrated another series of elegant sword techniques against the fallen opponent.

“…”

Maeng Ryeong-ji folded her arms.

She clearly disliked that Eun-hyeon insisted on drawing blood every time.

“So that’s why he entered the entrance exam. He must enjoy crushing weaker people.”

Eun-hyeon calmly continued attacking while chasing after the crawling boy.

“AAAAH! Ugh…!”

“Just surrender already!”

“Wow! Eun-hyeon!”

…That was a little much.

Even if only for brief moments, he was putting enough internal energy into those strikes that a wooden sword could easily kill someone.

“…I advise you to surrender immediately.”

Finally, the instructor spoke.

Perhaps the boy had become so terrified that he’d forgotten he was even in a match.

The moment he heard the instructor…

“I surrender! I lost!”

He shouted desperately.

“…Mount Hua’s Eun-hyeon wins.”

Just like that, his second match ended in moments.

The next matches involved students from sects I’d never even heard of.

“Hmm… they’re average.”

“With skills like that, they wouldn’t survive even two hours in the jungle.”

The boys beside us weren’t wrong.

The remaining matches weren’t particularly interesting.

The competitors fought with everything they had.

But many of them barely managed to use their internal energy properly.

Several more matches passed.

Some fighters were completely outclassed.

Others used the full time limit.

Eun-hyeon’s matches always belonged to the first category.

After quite some time…

The instructor finally stood up and ordered everyone to gather around the central arena.

Soon all the matches ended.

Then the first successful applicants were announced.

“Mount Hua’s Eun-hyeon. Ju Pyeong-sam of the Seoyong Sect. Danri Hyang of the Danri Family. Gu Won-ui, independent cultivator. The four of you have officially passed. Return after resting. The tournament to determine first place begins at You Hour.”

The crowd burst into cheers.

Earlier I had heard that the academy accepted at least ten students every year, even if they had to lower the standard.

Just as Eun-hyeon had continued winning every match I watched, these four had likely done the same on the other arenas.

Now the instructors would select the remaining promising candidates.

“Lay disciple Son Kang of Shaolin. Jeong Ha-rin of the Bota Sect. Mo Yeong-taek of the Mo Family Manor…”

The instructor called twenty or thirty more names.

Not one of Eun-hyeon’s defeated opponents was among them.

Even if the academy tried to consider everyone’s background fairly…

Those boys had lost before they could show anything.

Luck certainly played a part.

“Hyang! Congratulations!”

“Haha. Thank you.”