A valley deep inside Mount Hua.

Just looking at the small waterfall pouring down refreshingly could cleanse one’s heart.

The sight of water gently scattering into the air around the waterfall was mesmerizing.

Bubbles were rising on the surface of the water, shaking under the sunlight. It was indeed nature, but on the other hand, it felt great, so it was a sight that went well with Mount Hua…

“Puaaahhh!”

At that moment, something round suddenly rose above the surface of the water.

“Huuuh! Wheeze! Ughh! If this continues, we die…!”

Taaaat!

…. Rack.

At the same time this sound rose, the head that had surfaced sank back into the water with a loud splash.

Hyun Young shook his head, slightly shaking the stick in his hand.

“Huh. Why do you keep coming up as if it is difficult?”

“Puahahah!”

Tattt!

Gurgle!

The head rising above the water was threshed by Hyun Young and sank again.

“Ehh, tsk, tsk. I just couldn’t hold onto this angle!”

Hyun Young clicked his tongue and looked to the side.

“How can you do such great things if you are like this? Am I wrong, Chung Myung?”

“You are speaking right, elder! Hehe.”

Chung Myung, sitting on the nearby rock, giggled at the sight.

He was looking at the calm surface of the water, which occasionally had bubbles rise. It was such a peaceful scene that anyone would have thought that an elder and a disciple were enjoying playing in the water.

But that’s just an outside story. Below the water, it was literal chaos.

‘I will die! This might really kill me!’

Air bubbles continued to escape from Baek Cheon’s nose and mouth.

“Ughhh!”

With red eyes, he desperately clenched his mouth and looked to the side. The sajes were similarly swinging their swords.

‘This is crazy!’

Was this training?

Of course, it could be. No, of course, you could. What was so great about a swordsman training by swinging a sword?

Baek Cheon was rather close to Confucius. The mindset that ‘people can do anything if they put their minds to it,’ which was instilled in him by Chung Myung, taught Baek Cheon the value that ‘if there is a mountain in front of you, it is faster to go through it than take the back route.’

So Baek Cheon wasn’t someone who would normally refuse training. If he could reach the goal quickly, even if it was a little too much, he would welcome it and be the first to do it.

But.

‘That’s a story out of the water!’

Why on earth did they need to practice under the water? They weren’t even part of the 18 Yangtze River families!

Nice. Right, nice!

You could train in the water. Because you never know when anything will happen in Kangho. How could one know anything? What if they went out to Kangho, but due to a series of coincidences, they ended up fighting with swords in the water?

But, no matter how well one tried to think about it, it was difficult to consider that as training.

What kind of training was it to swing a sword in the water with a heavy stone tied to the foot? It was just harassment!

At least the other disciples were able to breathe and come back even after being beaten for lack of respect. Still, Baek Cheon, the great disciple, couldn’t even go to the surface before the other disciples.

Thanks to this, ever since he began to train, he had literally been suffering without even being able to breathe.

‘I-I cannot hold on…’

Just as he was almost losing consciousness, fortunately, someone who had the same thought came up first.

“Kuaaak!”

Jo Gul, who was swinging the sword next to him, had his cheeks swollen as if they were about to burst. Air bubbles from his mouth came as he began to rise up.

‘Gul!’

Baek Cheon looked at him with sad eyes.

Jo Gul swam toward the surface at an incredible speed and soon soared out of the water like a dragon ascending to heaven.

And…

Tat!

With a loud hitting sound that could be heard underwater, his body fell back again.

Splash!

His body, which had sunk for a moment, began to float again.

It would be amusing to see that butt floating from the outside. But when he saw it in the water, he felt fear. The sight of unconscious Jo Gul drifting along with both eyes open was like watching a water ghost.

‘No. Endure it.’

If he went up, he’d end up like that. Hang in there.

Gurgle.

‘Hmm?’

He hurriedly turned his head at the strange noise coming from the side and saw Jung Ho swinging his sword next to him, blinking his eyes while air bubbles escaped, struggling.

Baek Cheon was shocked and cut off the stand, hanging from his ankle. Jung Ho began to move to the surface, not swimming up but floating.

Jung Ho, who couldn’t hold on and eventually passed out, reached the surface and began to float next to Jo Gul.

If one endured, they died. If one went up, they died.

Baek Cheon, unable to do anything in this shocking situation, quickly covered his mouth.

“Ughhh…”

Gurgle.

Water rushed into his mouth, which had no more air to push out. He covered his mouth with both hands and began to squirm.

‘M-My limit…’

He could not hold on any longer…

Thud!

At that moment, he heard the sound of a foot-stomping. Hyun Sang began to demonstrate the swinging of the sword with a finger pointed up.

‘Ahhhh!’

Thinking that he could live, Baek Cheon began to swim frantically. But no matter how much he flailed his arms and legs, he couldn’t move fast because of the rock around his ankle.

“Ughhh! Ughhh!”

His nose and mouth filled with water, and his heart began to pound with anxiety. For a moment, the sight before his eyes seemed distant.

‘Ahhhh!’

Baek Cheon, who had reached the surface with much difficulty, gritted his teeth and was about to leap up when someone below grabbed him by the waist.

‘Huh?’

Then, he climbed up, pressing him down by the shoulders and stamping on his face.

Brrr….

Baek Cheon, who had been unexpectedly attached to the rock, slowly sank into the water, his desperate climb rendered meaningless.

‘You…’

As his vision blurred, he clearly saw the back of the person rising up.

‘Yoon Jong…’

Gurgle!

“Puaaahhhhh! Gasp! Gasp! Gasp!”

Everyone who emerged from the water was gasping wildly as if trying to expel the water they had swallowed.

“Gasp! Cough!”

“G-Gul! Gul, open your eyes! Are you alright? Gul?”

“Jung Ho! This is the end! You cannot die on me!”

Those who barely regained their senses grabbed the sahyungs who were drifting unconscious.

Somehow, they made it to the water’s surface. They came out limping like seaweed and collapsed to the ground one after another.

“Grrrrr.”

“Ugh… puke! Puke….”

The sight of them barely turning their heads to the side and pouring water out of their mouths was so miserable that anyone who saw them would shed tears.

‘I feel like I am going to die.’

Clear water spilled from Yoon Jong’s mouth as he looked up at the sky with blank eyes.

‘I really feel like I might die.’

In the meantime, they had endured countless difficult training sessions. The training under that damned Chung Myung pushed them past their limits and depended on their willpower.

But this felt different.

During Chung Myung’s training, if it became too difficult, they could stop. Of course, it was painful to continue a training that could be stopped by one’s own will and complete it to the end, but it was a practice where there was time to rest for a while.

But not this.

Using internal qi in the water and performing the 24-Movement Plum Blossom Sword technique wasn’t something anyone could do. Their breath reached the tip of their throats, and their limbs became tense. The most painful part was that Hyun Jong and Hyun Young, standing above the water, weren’t letting anyone out.

“What should we do with this…”

“Yoon Jong.”

“Huh?”

Yoon Jong slightly lifted his burdened head at the voice and looked up.

Then, Chung Myung with the face of a demon… no, Baek Cheon….

Uh?

Sasuk?

Kuaaaak!

At that moment, Baek Cheon rushed at Yoon Jong, grabbed him by the neck, and shook him violently.

“Cough! S-sasuk! W-why are you!”

“Shut up! You die today, or I die!”

“Cough! Cough! S-sasuk! M-my throat!”

Yoon Jong’s face soon turned pale as he choked until foam rose into his mouth, which was spitting up water. Desperately, Yoon Jong pulled Baek Cheon’s hand away and screamed.

“I don’t get it! Why are you doing this!?”

“What? Why? Are you really asking me this now? You bastard! Why did you step on your sasuk’s face? Why?”

“I-I did?”

Yoon Jong looked puzzled.

“I haven’t stepped….”

“Do you remember when you came up from the water?”

“Uh… now that I think about it, I wonder how I came up… I cannot remember….”

Baek Cheon smiled at that.

“You don’t remember then?”

“Yes. My memory is hazy….”

“Right. That’s it, then. I will erase your memories right away now!”

Baek Cheon’s fist neatly turned the corner of Yoon Jong’s chin.

“Kuaaak!”

As Yoon Jong moved like a frog, Baek Cheon jumped on top of him and began to swing his fist.

“I heard that a well-behaved cat has an end day! Are you doing something that cannot be done? Die! Die! Die, you bastard!”

“Ahhh, sasuk! Argg! S-spare me! Ackkk!”

Jo Gul and Jung Ho, who had fainted, woke up at the sound of that scream. They opened their eyes, blinking for a moment, unable to come to their senses. They glanced at Baek Cheon, who was pressing down on Yoon Jong, and raised their hands weakly.

Tap.

Jo Gul raised his thumb. It was a heartwarming sight, rejoicing over the misfortune his sahyung was experiencing.

“Stop! Ah! You cannot do it!”

Baek Cheon flinched at the voice he heard and stopped his hand. The fist raised in the air trembled as if feeling regret.

Yoon Jong didn’t miss the chance and shouted earnestly.

“Elder, sasuk…!”

“Ughhh!”

Paaack!

In the end, Baek Cheon, who had sent Yoon Jong flying with the final hit, stood up and grunted as if his anger hadn’t subsided.

If Jo Gul or Chung Myung had done this, he wouldn’t have been this angry. They were the type to do such things. But Yoon Jong was someone he firmly believed in!

‘There is no one in this sect that I can trust anymore!’

They said true nature came out during a crisis!

At that moment, Hyun Jong clicked his tongue again with a disgruntled look on his face.

“Tsk tsk, pathetic. To pant after just this.”

Mount Hua disciples looked at Hyun Young in shock.

“When I was in my prime, I could swing my sword one slash at a time, even underwater.”

Elder… then him…

“No matter how well you swing the sword, if you don’t have enough strength, just grab it! Catch! When you cannot breathe and just use the internal qi to survive, it shows how consistently you have been training your internal qi!”

Hyun Young’s eyes were focused on one place.

“You were so focused on sword-wielding that the internal qi training has been neglected.”

Water came out from Jo Gul’s mouth.

“That guy is so desperate for life that he pushes others down.”

“… cough.”

Yoon Jong came to his senses and touched his red eyes.

“He usually acts proud of all kinds of things, but then he starts punching because he’s being dragged by his feet!”

“…”

Hyun Young glanced at the remaining people and said,

“The rest cannot even do that right! This is all!”

All the disciples of Mount Hua flinched and bowed their heads.

“I trusted you all too much, and you go around arrogantly with such rotten nature.”

Hyun Sang looked at Hyun Young with a happy smile.

‘You did good, my sajae.’

Do more, more!

“What? Do you want me to test your qualifications to learn the new martial arts skill?”

Hyun Young laughed coldly.

“Fine. I will see your bones. What you are doing. When you have had enough air, go back in again.”

“Uh?”

“Again?”

“Why? Do you want to get pushed by my hand?”

Hyun Young hit the floor with the stick in hand.

“I am telling you in advance, it is alright if you cannot endure it and faint. It is alright to get hit and faint. But!”

Sparks flew in Hyun Young’s eyes.

“Those who say they are giving up better be prepared for what is to come! If you are curious, try doing it!”

“…”

“These guys! Will you not go in now?”

When Hyun Young rushed at the disciples with a stick, everyone quickly got up and ran to the water.

“Eikkkk!”

“I-I am going in! Let’s go!”

“Mommmm!”

Plop. Plop!

In the end, Hyun Young brushed his head as he watched every single one of them head into the water. There was a smile on his lips.

“I wanted to try this practice method at least once. Heheheh.”

Meanwhile, the back of Chung Myung’s head, who was watching this, was turning damp with cold sweat.

He couldn’t help but think that he had opened up a box he shouldn’t have touched…

Haha.

Hahahah.