Chapter 546

A thrashing, maybe?

I was fairly sure it meant beating someone to his heart’s content.

And that was exactly what was unfolding in front of me.

“Agh! Ggaaagh! Aaaaagh!”

Cheong Uram.

The spear user who had stepped forward so proudly from the Holy Cult was now sitting collapsed on the ground, not with a spear but barehanded, getting beaten senseless.

And the one beating him black and blue was a woman far smaller than he was.

Plum Blossom Sword Peak Yu Yeon.

She was beating him wildly with her sword.

Not the blade.

She had drawn the scabbard instead and was thrashing him like a madwoman.

“Aaaaagh! Ggaaaagh!”

Cheong Uram could not even counterattack. Both hands were covering his crotch. Apparently, it still hurt.

“S-stop...... Stooop!”

She did not stop even when he begged her to.

Whether blood splattered on her face or not, Yu Yeon focused entirely on beating him.

“......We should stop her, right?”

“Probably......?”

We could not just stand there and watch, either, so in the end we had to stop Yu Yeon ourselves.

“Hey. Hey, hey! Stop! He’s going to die!”

I walked over and spoke to Yu Yeon.

Only then did Yu Yeon halt the scabbard she had been swinging and stop moving.

I checked her energy.

Her Heaven-Slaying Star had not manifested in particular.

Of course it had not.

If the Heaven-Slaying Star had manifested......

It would not have ended like this.

To begin with, she would not have beaten him with the scabbard. She would have sliced him apart with the blade.

“Grrrgh......”

The fellow’s face had swollen so badly that he had become unrecognizable.

I actually felt sorry for him.

He was the one who had spouted nonsense first, but I had not expected it to turn out like this.

“......Were you that angry? Ah, well, sexual harassment is something worth getting mad over.”

“......?”

At my words, Yu Yeon tilted her head.

What?

Was that not it?

“You weren’t angry because he sexually harassed you? Then what were you angry abou—”

“.......”

Yu Yeon stared silently at me.

I could not tell what kind of look that was.

“Well, now.”

At that moment, the instructor stepped in again.

I flinched when I saw him.

Just as I wondered whether we were about to get scolded because she had beaten him too much—

“Exactly. A man who does not know his place should not run his mouth carelessly. Did this instructor teach you that?”

“......In...... Instructor...... sir......”

“You damned idiot.”

Bang—!

“......!”

The instructor struck Cheong Uram in the head with his fist.

With the impact, Cheong Uram collapsed and lost consciousness. He probably was not dead.

Still, I had not expected the man to just hit him like that.

“Tsk.”

The instructor clicked his tongue and straightened up.

“In the old days, I would have crushed his head right there. The age of peace truly is lamentable.”

What kind of age had the old days been?

The way he said it so calmly was quite fierce.

“Well, this is embarrassing. It seems we have disappointed you twice in a row.”

“......No. I would not call it disappointment.”

“Well, it is also the first day, so take it as a sign to enjoy yourselves slowly.”

The instructor grabbed Cheong Uram and flung him.

The fellow’s body flew swiftly and crashed into the younger-generation prodigies’ side.

“Get rid of him. I do not care to look at trash.”

The younger-generation prodigies tossed Cheong Uram away without much concern.

“Now then. The two winners should receive their numbers.”

“......Numbers?”

“Normally, the one who wins has the right to choose a number. Which number do you want?”

At those words, Yu Yeon and I looked at each other.

What number was good?

“For reference, the lower the number, the better it is. After all, it means you are the strongest. And as such, you will end up fighting countless times.”

“We have to fight more?”

“I told you, the lower the number, the stronger you are. The Holy Cult respects the strong. The strong are the law here. Then naturally, many will covet that number.”

It seemed to mean that if you lacked confidence, you should not choose a low number.

Really?

Then.

“Give it to me.”

The number I would receive had already been decided.

*****

By the time what they called the Holy Cult Battle ended, the day was nearly over.

There were quite a few people, so it took a while.

In truth, after Yu Yeon and me, the instructor had simply told them to fight on their own and have the winner come receive a number, so it ended faster than it otherwise would have.

Immediately after it ended, the numbers assigned to us were—

“What is with that awkward number five?”

Yu Yeon was number five.

“I should have taken something a little lower......”

Cloud Dragon was number twenty-two.

Poison Dragon was number twelve.

When asked why they had chosen those, Cloud Dragon said it was simply his order among Wudang’s third-generation disciples.

Poison Dragon said he could not get number one anyway, so he chose a number he liked.

At the same time—

“Why did you pick that......?”

Peng Dojun had chosen—

“Why not? It’s good.”

Number one hundred eighty-nine.

The highest number.

When asked why he had chosen that number despite beating his opponent easily, Peng Dojun said,

“I have to start from the highest one and climb up by beating them one at a time.”

It was an insane reason.

He meant he would fight every single one of them once and work his way up.

He really was a madman.

“Do not look at me like that.”

Peng Dojun grinned and pointed at me.

“Your number is the craziest one.”

“Why me?”

Number one.

The number I had chosen was number one.

“I picked the obvious one. What is the problem?”

“Ahahahaha.”

If I was going to show them, I would do it properly.

That was the thought behind my choice.

“......I do not think you used to feel like this. You are changing more and more.”

“Do you have a complaint?”

“No. Since you are a bastard who can get away with it, not particularly. Just wait.”

Peng Dojun smiled so widely his mouth nearly split open.

“I will make my way there.”

“.......”

That was a little frightening.

I shrugged.

“Do as you please.”

Come if you want.

That said—

“I have no intention of stepping aside.”

“Ahahahaha. I like that.”

We exchanged a useless conversation.

Next, I looked at Yu Yeon.

“So why did you choose that number?”

Number five.

When I asked Yu Yeon about the somewhat ambiguous number, she looked at me.

Then she used the stick she had brought at some point to write on the ground.

What she wrote was—

“Because it is the exact right number?”

Nod.

“Why would that be......”

I stopped while speaking.

“......Are you saying there are four people above you?”

Nod.

My eyes widened at Yu Yeon’s answer.

Four people stronger than Yu Yeon.

She was saying that she had made an objective judgment about her number.

When did she see that?

I thought about why she had judged it that way.

What had she seen?

Could it be—

Was it back then?

Gyo Yeon.

The place where that fellow had been gathered. There had been several more people there besides him.

On top of that, the ones in that area had been on a different level from the others.

In fact, numbers two through four had been taken by those fellows.

And in the middle of all that, Yu Yeon had judged it that way.

Even I was not sure about them.

I had only thought they were strong fellows, a group of people whose realms seemed reasonably high.

But Yu Yeon seemed to have seen something there.

Still, number five.

She went out of her way to choose number five?

I did not think she was at that level, but if she saw it that way herself, it was not my place to say anything.

In any case.

The numbers are all settled.

Since we had received the numbers we chose, could we move on now?

Those fellows do bother me, though.

The place where Gyo Yeon and Woo Young Jin had been.

I remembered the gazes watching us from a little farther behind that spot.

Their force felt different from the others.

Were they—

The real geniuses the Holy Cult is cultivating?

The geniuses who existed in the Holy Cult, including the Young Cult Leader.

Were they the same as the ones the orthodox faction would call Dragons and Peaks?

Their feeling had been a little rougher.

Savage and rough. Yet refined.

Their energies grated on me.

Worse yet—

One of them had Sky-Crushing Palace energy mixed in.

Someone other than Ye An.

The one who took number three had been like that.

“The first day is already draining me.”

I had not really done anything.

I had not even used much stamina, but as soon as I arrived, all the strength seemed to leave my body.

Who would have thought they would start with brawling before any introductions?

I wonder if the orthodox side is all right.

Was the Young Cult Leader doing well at the Murim Alliance?

That side bothered me in its own way.

I need to hurry and do what I have to do here.

I had to handle my business and think about returning.

When is Mi Yeonhwa coming?

Severing Demon.

I had to wait until she returned. Once she came, there were things I needed to have her do and ask of her.

I had to use everything I could use.

“Hmm......”

I swept my hair back.

I organized what I would have to do once Severing Demon came, and thought over what needed to be done tomorrow as well.

I also need to think about tomorrow’s training.

Now that our numbers had been decided, training would begin tomorrow.

What was the Holy Cult’s training like?

Judging by the fact that they had started with a brawl, it probably was not normal training.

How is any of this useful?

An exchange?

What exchange?

Right now, the people over there looked like they only wanted to devour us.

If something went wrong, it felt like we would truly be screwed.

This will not be easy.

I had not thought it would end in a day or two, but now I could feel the difficulty a little.

And what is this about Yoo Cheongil’s corpse?

At a point when not a single thing was proper.

Most of the things I experienced were like that, but this time as well, I could feel that everything had twisted into a filthy mess.

“For now...... well, since that is done, let us eat first.”

I would eat first and then think.

Surely they would at least feed us here, right?

I said that and was about to lead the group out.

Knock, knock.

“Hm?”

Just as I was about to leave our assigned lodging, I felt a human presence.

It seemed someone outside was looking for us.

What was this?

Ye An?

No.

It was not that presence or that spiritual energy.

I narrowed my eyes and opened the door.

There stood—

“What is it?”

“Hello?”

A seductive woman smiling in a lilting way.

Her name was, let me see......

“My name is Hyo Yeonri.”

“Yes. What business do you have?”

Hyo Yeonri.

The woman who had been clinging right beside Gyo Yeon.

She had also been assigned number seven.

A woman with a bewitching mole near her eye and drenched in romantic calamity.

“Ah, I have some business with you.”

“With me?”

“Yes.”

Hyo Yeonri had business with me?

I tilted my head slightly.

Just when I wondered what business she could possibly have with me, she said,

“About tomorrow’s training. Wouldn’t you like to do it with me?”

“......Me, with you?”

“Yes. It should not be a bad offer.”

“What are we doing tomorrow?”

“Ah, you don’t know?”

“No.”

No one had explained what we were doing tomorrow.

Had their side already heard?

What was this, hazing?

It might be.

“Then that actually works out. Tomorrow’s training is done in pairs, two people to one team. I want to do it with you.”

“......Why?”

“Because you seem like you would do it the best?”

“......?”

What kind of faith was that?

As I was wondering, she said,

“Do it for me. If you do—”

Rustle.

Hyo Yeonri slightly pulled open her martial uniform.

Her full breasts were revealed beneath it.

“I’ll do anything for you. Anything.”

“......No, what are you—”

It was not as if I felt particularly interested, so I was about to click my tongue.

Crack.

“Hm?”

I heard a sound from behind me.

When I turned around—

Clatter.

“......Yu Yeon?”

Yu Yeon.

She had broken the table.

What was that?

Did she just—

Did she slam it with her fist?

After destroying perfectly good furniture, she looked over at us with an somehow cold expression.

A chill ran over me.

......

I did not know what this was.

But it was terrifying enough to kill me.

Truly.