Without realizing it, I found myself brushing off my body after hearing Bijeon's words. Was I cursed or something?

If it truly were a curse, I’d find the one who cast it and burn them alive.

"Anyway, besides that…."

Bijeon seemed like he had more to say. Despite furrowing my brow, I listened.

Or at least, pretended to.

"Hmm…."

"Is something wrong?"

Just as he was about to continue, Bijeon glanced somewhere else and took a step back.

"This won’t do. If we keep going, someone might end up drawing their sword."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Let’s make sure we meet again next time."

"..."

"Your silence is as good as agreement."

"No, why would that be—!"

Without waiting for my response, Bijeon quickly disappeared.

The murmuring crowd, seeing that the situation had ended without much incident, began to disperse.

Gu Jeol-yeop and Gu Yeon-seo had already vanished by then.

It was only then that I slowly—

Sigh…

—I could finally withdraw the internal energy that had been filling my dantian.

‘...I didn’t expect Pajeon to intervene.’

I had sensed he had some interest in me, but I didn’t expect him to step in so directly.

‘It was troublesome, but…’

His intervention had helped. My emotions had clouded my judgment, preventing me from seeing the obvious.

At least it was fortunate.

I had been a bit worried that Jang Seon-yeon might have changed, but it turned out he was the same as ever.

Confirming that made me feel more at ease.

‘While I’m here…’

Now that I had come to this place, and there was someone I needed to find…

‘I can kill him this time.’

That gave me all the justification I needed.

Jang Seon-yeon would die here.

That had been one of my goals for coming to this place in the first place.

Suppressing the lingering traces of killing intent, I glanced in the direction Bijeon had been looking earlier.

I wondered what he had seen while he was talking.

"Huh?"

There, just like the day before, was Wi Seol-ah, her face hidden beneath the deep hood of her red robe.

Even though there was a large crowd moving around quickly, I was sure it was her.

"You…"

I moved to approach her.

"Group 1 and Group 2! The entrance exam is about to begin! Please gather!"

At the sound of the announcement infused with internal energy, I momentarily shifted my gaze.

By the time I looked back—

"Damn."

Wi Seol-ah had already disappeared into the crowd.

Just like before, if I wanted to, I could have found her. Using a bit of my internal energy wouldn’t cause me to fail the exam.

But…

‘Why that expression?’

For some reason, her eyes, which I had caught a glimpse of, seemed to be asking me not to look for her.

This whole thing was leaving a bad taste in my mouth from the very start.

Sigh.

Nothing was going right.

I wanted to vent my frustration on someone, but—

Unfortunately, Gu Jeol-yeop had already fled.

Click.

I clicked my tongue and finally started walking.

There was something I needed to take care of first.

Cho Wi-seok, the second disciple of Kunlun, held the title of The Blade That Slices All (支嚓劍).

He had made quite a name for himself in the central plains and was a rising young martial artist showing steady growth.

Among those martial artists who had passed their twenties, he was considered one of the most outstanding.

Aside from the prodigies like Tang Mun's heir or Shin Hyeon, the second disciple of Mount Hua, Cho Wi-seok’s standing was quite solid.

"Group 1, Choun Ga’s Choun Chil, passed."

Because of this, Cho Wi-seok had been able to follow his master, the Blue Sea One Sword, to Shinryongwan and even secured a position as an instructor.

But Cho Wi-seok didn’t exactly relish the position.

‘What is the sect leader thinking?’

With so much happening in Blue Sea, why had the sect leader entrusted everything to the elders and come here?

Cho Wi-seok couldn’t understand.

He had to hold his tongue out of respect, but the dissatisfaction simmered within.

He shouldn’t be here, teaching these young brats.

And to make matters worse—

‘The Sword Empress.’

Cho Wi-seok was now thinking of the only female instructor in Group 2.

He had heard about her from the sect leader, but he hadn’t expected the famed Sword Empress herself to come to Shinryongwan as an instructor.

Considering her reputation, it would make more sense for her to be the head instructor rather than just an ordinary one.

That the Sword Empress had lowered her pride and come to a sect she wasn’t even affiliated with suggested there was more to the story.

Lost in thought, Cho Wi-seok frowned as his head began to ache.

Clang!

The sound snapped him out of his thoughts, and his eyes darted toward its source.

Several young martial artists were marveling at something, and upon seeing it, Cho Wi-seok’s reaction was the same.

‘Wow…’

It was hard not to be impressed.

Before a stone pillar that stood about ten feet tall, a handsome young man had just sheathed his sword.

Whoosh.

Even as the sword slid into its scabbard, it hummed with resonance.

The stone pillar now bore a long sword mark, not too deep, but unmistakable.

Cho Wi-seok couldn’t help but gape in astonishment.

‘It’s not a scratch—it’s a sword mark?’

The tall stone pillar was the subject of this entrance exam.

The task was to leave some kind of damage on the pillar, which was the first part of the exam.

Though the instructions didn’t specify how, it was understood that they were to use their martial arts skills.

Many might have scoffed at the idea of leaving mere scratches, but…

Once they learned what the pillar was made of, everyone would understand.

‘Ten Thousand-Year Cold Iron.’

A metal known throughout the central plains as one of the hardest substances. Even though only a small amount had been mixed in, it was enough to make the pillar virtually indestructible.

The black stone pillar before them was no different.

No one knew how such a rare material had been incorporated into the entrance exam, but it was a fact.

The entrance exam task was always chosen by the head instructor.

This meant that the Blue Sea One Sword had provided this task.

Cho Wi-seok didn’t need to know the reasoning behind it.

What mattered was whether the young martial artists could pass the test.

And based on what he had just seen, the young man responsible for that long sword mark had clearly succeeded.

He quickly recalled the young man’s name.

‘Shin Seong, wasn’t it?’

The only son of the current Alliance Leader.

A rising star among the younger generation.

The sound of that sword humming was likely from the Alliance Leader’s signature martial art, the Shadow Sword.

‘The rumors about his talent were true after all.’

While others struggled to make even the smallest dent in the pillar, Shin Seong had left a mark with a single strike.

It wasn’t surprising that the other young martial artists were so impressed.

‘This generation’s rising talents are truly exceptional.’

Whether it was the Six Dragons and Three Phoenixes, Shin Seong, or even the successor of the Sword Sovereign whom Cho Wi-seok had personally sought out, they all stood apart from the rest.

‘It seems the top spot for this entrance exam has already been decided.’

Cho Wi-seok was certain.

If Shin Seong could leave such a mark on that pillar, he was already beyond the level of the other young martial artists.

There were still the other Dragons and Phoenixes to consider, but…

The top spot would likely go to Shin Seong.

With that thought in mind, Cho Wi-seok opened his mouth to announce the result.

"Group 1, Jang Seon-yeon. Pass—"

CRASH!

Just as Cho Wi-seok was about to declare Jang Seon-yeon’s success, a loud crash echoed from somewhere far away.

"What was that?"

"What’s going on?"

The other young martial artists murmured in confusion as Cho Wi-seok shouted, infusing his voice with internal energy.

"Do not move! We don’t know what’s happening yet!"

Cho Wi-seok, too, prepared himself for any situation as he looked in the direction of the noise.

‘Wasn’t that where Group 2 was taking their exam?’

Could it be an attack?

With martial artists from Kunlun and the Alliance patrolling the area, no ordinary bandit would be able to infiltrate.

As Cho Wi-seok considered evacuating the young martial artists, a voice reached his ears through sound transmission.

"...What?"

His face twisted in disbelief.

So shocked was he by what he heard, he forgot to respond via sound transmission and instead spoke aloud.

"Someone… broke the pillar?"

That was how absurd it sounded.

At the site of the crash, Group 2 stood amidst scattered pieces of stone.

A young man stood there, covering his face with his hands, sighing continuously.

"Heh heh…"

And in front of him, the Sword Empress was trying to stifle her laughter.

It didn’t seem to be working.

Apparently, something about this situation was incredibly amusing to her.

In front of her, the Ten Thousand-Year Cold Iron pillar now had a massive hole punched through it.

Cracks spidered out in all directions, making it look like it could collapse at any moment.

And the one responsible for this destruction stood there, still covering his face, mumbling quietly to himself.

"Ah…"

The culprit, Gu Yangcheon, could feel the weight of everyone’s gaze on him as he silently cursed himself.

‘I should have controlled my strength.’

In an attempt to blow off some steam, he had impulsively struck the pillar, and now he was paying the price.

‘They said it was mixed with Ten Thousand-Year Cold Iron, but how did it break so easily?’

Unbelievable.

When Gu Yangcheon thought about the Ten Thousand-Year Cold Iron he had encountered in his past life, this thing wasn’t even worth comparing to it.

Still, it shouldn’t have shattered like that.

As the surrounding murmurs died down, leaving only the image of the shattered pillar, the silence felt deafening.

The silence carried several unspoken meanings, none of which were favorable to Gu Yangcheon.

This wasn’t the outcome he had intended.

Realizing this, he muttered quietly to himself,

"Damn it."

It seemed he had caused a massive incident from the very start of the exam.