“How was it?”

“… surprisingly, there was no reaction.”

“Is that so?”

Baek Sang looked into Baek Cheon’s eyes and answered.

“Yes. It didn’t seem like they were angry enough to lash out; he hasn’t even said anything that we could use to cause problems with them.”

“Hmm, really?”

Baek Cheon narrowed his eyes.

‘This is a little different from what I expected.’

Isn’t he at a rebellious age? Baek Cheon thought that if he scratched the third-class disciples a little, they’d immediately revolt against them, and this was what he aimed for.

Mount Hua is a prestigious sect.

There are only two sins considered to be utterly taboo within the sect. One was to never touch the Demonic Arts, and the other was to usurp their seniors.

These two actions are the most heavily punished crimes. The former is related to Mount Hua’s identity as a righteous sect, while the latter is a matter of challenging the history, traditions, and system of Mount Hua.

So, Baek Cheon planned to anger the third-class disciples and then use the sect’s rules to tie them down so that they couldn’t resist them any further. Surprisingly, the third-class disciples were tolerating their abuse well.

“Should we apply more pressure?”

“It would be unreasonable to go beyond this. If we go any farther, we may be faulted for causing the dispute.”

“Hmm.”

Baek Cheon let out a low sigh as if he didn’t like it.

‘Then… is he not simply a hot-blooded idiot?’

Considering what he saw from Chung Myung at the dining hall, he seemed to be impatient and reckless. He was someone that didn’t care about his reputation and even controlled the third-class disciples…

‘Was this Yoon Jong’s doing?’

Whatever the case, it was certain that Baek Cheon’s plan was falling apart.

“What about the other third-class disciples?”

“There’s nothing. Aside from the fact that they’re doing some strange training….”

Baek Cheon gently tapped his cheek with his finger.

“I see.”

“Sahyung. It’s unreasonable to prolong this. We don’t know when the sasuks will grow displeased with our actions, and there isn’t much time left until the conference too.”

“I know.”

Baek Cheon nodded his head.

“Now that it’s boiled, it’s time to scoop out the porridge.”

“Then?”

At Baek Sang’s question, Baek Cheon smiled and spoke.

“As you know, the Chung disciples are good children.”

“That’s true. Before we left, they were all so naive and innocent. Yet, they’ve changed that much in a single year….”

“It’s because they got entangled with a problematic child. In fact, do we really need to punish all the children? The problem is Chung Myung alone.”

“You’re right.”

Baek Sang agreed.

The third-class disciples and their representative, Yoon Jong, aren’t difficult children to deal with. Jo Gul was a bit wild, but he was a child who Baek Cheon could handle.

The problem is Chung Myung.

Don’t they say that people change according to their surroundings?

The third-class disciples were fine before but became strange due to Chung Myung’s influence.

At least the third-class disciples still showed respect to their superiors, and they knew that the words of their sasuks were more important than words from their peers.

It was none other than Chung Myung who corrupted them like this.

In other words, if Chung Myung could be broken, then the third-class disciples would naturally become as docile and obedient as they used to be.

“What do you plan to do?”

“Sajae.”

“Yes, Sahyung.”

Baek Cheon smiled.

“Do we need another way? What we are doing now is just obeying and enforcing the rules of Mount Hua, isn’t that right?”

“That’s true, Sahyung.”

“There is no room for personal emotions to intervene. Isn’t Chung Myung also a precious junior of Mount Hua? He might be a bit cheeky, but if we can use him well, he’ll be a good resource. So, I am just going to correct the mistakes the young child is making.”

Baek Cheon smiled.

“However, the problem is the method. I didn’t want to use the rough method, if possible, but I don’t have enough time, so it is inevitable. The best way to discipline a child is through conversation, but occasionally isn’t it also necessary to reprimand them?”

Baek Sang nodded his head as if he was excited.

“One day, they will understand the meaning behind sahyungs actions.”

“Right. Even if it might hurt a little now.”

The two looked at each other and smiled.

Kiik!

The door to the White Plum Blossom boarding house opened.

Peek!

And then a little head popped out. The man who peeked around frowned slightly.

‘Nobody’s here?’

Like a guest in the night seeping through the darkness, Chung Myung glanced around with a sense of urgency.

Nothing weird and no people around.

Chung Myung sighed and stepped outside.

“Kuak!”

What was he doing?

Leaving the dorms, he looked up at the sky with a despondent face; it appeared as if his soul was escaping.

“My Sahyung. Are you watching?”

What his Sahyung loved most in the world was…

- What?

Ah, don’t get annoyed already. Listen peacefully from the beginning and wait until I’m finished before getting angry! Be patient and listen! You were the sect leader of Mount Hua in the past!

Chung Myung’s face twisted.

“Anyway, I am doing all this to avoid such an airheaded person. Does this make any sense?”

He spoke with a great deal of resentment, but unfortunately, there was no answer to be heard.

“And that’s not all! There’s that woman who never misses a chance to bother me. Then there’s that other guy who looks like a parasite feeding on others, always coming around speaking about ancient rules of the sect that I’ve never even heard of and targeting his junior disciples. Ah! I’d rather just die than to suffer these fools!”

Being patient wasn’t in Chung Myung’s nature. He really just wanted to flip everything upside down. These children were causing such a fuss he even felt like he wanted to go and make the sect leader spank some sense into these kids.

After what Chung Myung’s been through, even if he ran straight to the Shaolin sect, they would willingly accept him as a disciple for his patience and diligence.

“Haaa! What sin did I commit to deserve thi—… I’ve committed many sins… in my previous life….”

To be honest, he couldn’t do anything about it because of conscience. Considering how much his Sahyung, who was the sect leader, had struggled to help him when he was a second-class disciple of Mount Hua, he couldn’t say anything to the children now or their elders.

“Why did I act like that?”

Chung Myung’s eyes turned wet.

He should have acted in moderation.

It seemed like the karma from his previous life was tormenting him now. He felt horrible as he tried to lead the little ones to grow into full adulthood.

’Ah, I guess this must be why Sahyung didn’t get married in his previous life. He was afraid that he would end up having a child like me.’

Sorry! Sahyung.

He always thought that his Sahyung lacked a pretty face, so he couldn’t get married…

Taking a deep breath, Chung Myung walked out of the sect grounds. In the past, there would have been a guard at the main gate, but the current Mount Hua didn’t have many visitors, so there was no need for guards.

And the reason was simple.

Not so long ago, Mount Hua was a place where even beggars wouldn’t come, so there was no need to place guards.

It was Chung Myung who reinvigorated Mount Hua.

But these ungrateful bastards! They didn’t even thank him for bringing enough money for the sect to survive so long that they wouldn’t run dry even if everyone turned old!

He wanted to hit this guy and that guy, no, he wanted to beat everyone…

“Ah, it’s impossible to do that either.”

It was weird, but these days Yoon Jong’s face seems to constantly overlap with his Sahyung’s face. It would be disrespectful to compare Yoon Jong’s fair and handsome face to his sahyung, who looked like a bandit. Their expressions were similar, though.

Seeing Yoon Jong with a sour expression that looked like he was helpless and nervous each time Chung Myung did something…

‘Strangely, I feel guilty.’

It was hard to ignore because it felt like Sahyung was coming back to life and nagging at him.

“Tch.”

Chung Myung shook his head again.

“I just need to endure it until the end of the conference.”

Even Chung Myung wanted to teach the Southern Edge Sect bastards a lesson. No matter how annoyed he was with the Baek disciples, it could not compare to his hatred held towards the Southern Edge Sect.

He only wanted to kick the asses of the Baek disciples, but he wanted to completely strangle all life from the Southern Edge Sect.

As Yong Joon said, it was best to wait until the conference passed.

Right…

“Yeah. If I can’t control my temper, more problems will come up.”

Until the conference ends, it would be best to avoid running into the Baek disciples.

Chung Myung started climbing the mountain peak through a different path than usual.

‘I won’t go to that peak anymore.’

A person can be beaten twice, but not three times. If you fall for the same trick three times, are you even human?

Chung Myung turned his head and looked at the peak he went to in the past.

“Ah, my God. Now I can’t even train where I want to.”

Even now, the other sects and their disciples who have trained diligently for a hundred years must be getting stronger.

To close the gap between them, Chung Myung doesn’t have time to spare resting. There’s no point in being strong alone.

In order for Mount Hua to stand tall among the Ten Great Sects… no, to go beyond that, and to be able to reproduce their legend as the best swordsmen in the world, the existence of a warrior who can subdue the ancient masters overlooking the other sects is essential.

No matter how often he thought about it, in the current Mount Hua, Chung Myung was the only one who could play that role.

Well, one could never know.

Fifty years? One hundred years?

If his goal was the sect’s longevity, he might try helping Jo Gul or Yoon Jong. Although he was acting petty, Baek Cheon was also talented. It seems like they could have potential as long as the foundation is established correctly.

The problem was that Chung Myung wasn’t the sort of person who could patiently wait around.

“I’ll freeze to death if I need to wait for fifty years.”

Before that happens, he’ll die.

Chung Myung, who climbed to a new mountain peak, slowly drew his sword and glanced around.

‘No one’s here, right?’

Whether it was an accident or intentional, that woman has been following Chung Myung like a leech since that day.

Although she was more well-behaved compared to the other Baek disciples, she would constantly pop up and annoy him when he was alone.

That was enough for Chung Mung to try and avoid her, but strangely, even with Chung Myung’s powerful senses, he still struggled to detect her presence until it was too late to avoid her.

‘It’s not like she’s a ghost, so why….’

There are plenty of people who have a weak or vague presence, but Yu Yiseol was especially unique even among such people.

Moreover, Chung Myung is used to feeling the presence of people by their qi rather than with his eyes or ears, especially…

“Chung Myung.”

“Accck!”

And like this.

Chung Myung jumped up and stepped back in a panic. In his eyes, he looked at Yu Yiseol, whose hand stretched out towards him.

“Ah! Come on! Show up with a bit of a flair at least! Announce yourself first!”

When Chung Mung screamed, Yu Yiseol frowned.