The Genius Warrior Who Remembers Everything Chapter 100

Chapter 100. The ‘Third’ Trial of the Hell Regular Exam (3)

Who is the ruler of the present murim?

When people hear this question, they think of the Murim Alliance.

For the past several hundred years, the Jianghu had been reorganized around the Murim Alliance, the Jianghu’s revival had occurred on that foundation, and in places where the government’s control could not reach, the Murim Alliance’s hand reached instead. Because of that, people trusted the Alliance more than the government.

Then who could be considered the ruler of the Murim Alliance?

Broadly speaking, one could point to the Nine Sects and One Gang centered around the Righteous Path Association, and the Five Great Clans centered around the Orthodox Path Association.

The Twelve Peak Citadels also existed, but they were still a rising power compared to those two forces, so let us exclude them.

If one measured the scale of power, the Orthodox Path Association could not compare to the Righteous Path Association, because the presence of the two giants within the Righteous Path Association was far too great.

Shaolin Temple of Buddhism.

The Wudang Sect of Daoism.

These two giants not only represented the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Murim Alliance, but it was no exaggeration to say they represented the entire murim.

That was why making enemies of the Wudang Sect and Shaolin Temple was no different from making enemies of the entire murim.

“Why would such a Wudang specifically designate Young Master Jin and the Taeul Sect as if they had been waiting for them?”

If one insisted on finding a cause, one could point to what happened on the Demon Spirit Plateau, but could that really be called my fault?

The one who fled to save himself inside the Soul-Destroying Formation was Yong So-ah, and I had been sucked into the formation while trying to stop him.

Was it not only natural that those who witnessed the tragedy there and survived by the skin of their teeth would curse Yong So-ah with one heart, regardless of Black or White?

In truth, if Yong So-ah had merely been a disciple of the Diancang Sect, every survivor of the Demon Spirit Plateau would have rushed to Diancang and begun a hundred-day protest demanding that they hand over the criminal.

The fact that it had quietly passed as though nothing had happened, and that he had not been cursed too much at the same time, was proof of just how great Wudang’s power was.

“Though they were outshone because of Yong So-ah, they say the skills of the ‘Hyeon’ generation disciples are far beyond those of others their age. If they bear malice toward the Taeul Sect, then forfeiting the exam may be one method.”

After seeing the list of matchups for the third trial, the Taeul Sect disciples other than me were all in a daze, and Murong Jae-hwa, who had cleverly come out early in the morning to choose an opponent, had gone to protest to the Wudang Sect, saying he could not forgive such absurd and one-sided tyranny.

“If you forfeit the third trial, you may fail the exam entirely.”

Possessing even the Third Trial Token meant one had that level of skill, financial power, and family backing.

Seizing Trial Tokens from such people would never be easy.

Even if one could seize them, one also had to think of a way to escape from other pursuers afterward.

Moreover, among them were those whose Trial Tokens and bodies moved separately.

In the end, if one thought of it as, “Will I become the one fleeing, or will I become the one fleeing after seizing someone else’s Trial Token?” the conclusion was that choosing the former was far easier.

“Huu…….”

That was why Lady Namgung Seon-hwa and Lady Seong Mo-ran were worrying over our exam before they even had time to choose their own opponents.

Clack.

At that moment, the door opened, and Murong Jae-hwa came in, huffing with anger.

Naturally, we stopped the conversation we had been having and looked at Murong Jae-hwa.

“My guess was right.”

“What guess?”

“As expected, there was no real reason. They say they have something to ask about the disappearance of their Junior Brother, but the timing does not match, does it?”

Thinking about it, it was not exactly something to feel that wronged over. Since the Wudang Sect had so many disciples, it was only natural for them to separate their disciples and send them to each of the four trials spread across the country, and it was also natural for them to search for an opponent who seemed weakest in the third trial.

But if that opponent who seemed weakest just so happened to be someone who had smeared filth on the name of their sect, then they would have even more reason to eliminate him.

“Yes, I thought as much. You should go out and choose your opponent first as well.”

Murong Jae-hwa was, in the end, also an examinee. I was grateful that he moved on my behalf, but that did not mean he could neglect the exam.

“I already chose, actually.”

“Hm? Did you not go to the Wudang Sect?”

“Yes. Since they were so impossible to reason with, I told them I would show them an example in your place and came back.”

“…….”

●Third Trial Matchup

Wudang Sect’s Hyeon Gun – Murong Clan’s Murong Jae-hwa

“At this point, should we not accept him as a Lay Disciple of the Taeul Sect?”

Geum-pyo said that while looking at Murong Jae-hwa, who was more indignant than the actual Taeul Sect disciples.

“I am not sure. If we did, would Elder Sword-Breaker not either grind the Taeul Sect into powder or turn Jae-hwa’s feet into crippled ones?”

He would not split the only eldest son of the direct line family in half, so it was more likely he would grind the Taeul Sect into powder. Would it be all right once Cheon-gi’s Mechanism Formation was completed?

Even in my previous life, Murong Jae-hwa had been unable to walk his own path because of Sword-Breaker’s overbearing interference.

Was the mission of the only man who would carry on the bloodline of the direct family not tragic by nature?

“In any case, we will forfeit the third trial.”

“Hm?”

At Geum-pyo’s sudden words that made no sense, Eun-ho and Dong-ryong nodded at the same time.

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

“Challenges are all well and good, but in any case, there should be someone from the Taeul Sect entering Murim Academy for the first time in history, should there not?”

“…….”

Unable to understand what Geum-pyo was saying, I tilted my head.

But he tilted his head back at me instead.

“If we are injured pointlessly while going through the martial duels, then we will be unable to help you through the Great Journey, Senior Brother. Surely you were not thinking of going alone?”

“Hm?”

In the end, as though frustrated, Geum-pyo struck his chest and shouted.

“No, by what method are we supposed to face the swordsmen of the Wudang Sect!”

This was insubordination, was it not? To dare shout at an Eldest Senior Brother as high as the heavens?

“Geum-pyo…….”

“Yes!!!”

“Your voice is a little loud, is it not?”

“Mm…… I don’t think so?”

I could understand their reaction as well.

How terrifying were Wudang swordsmen?

Leaving aside the depth and efficiency of their sword forms, they were incomparable even when looking only at inner arts.

Whether Azure Stone Milk flowed in the waters of Wudang Mountain, or whether they ate Ten-Thousand-Year Heshouwu at every meal, the average inner arts of their disciples who reached twenty years of age exceeded half a cycle.

That number was only when taking the average.

If they were disciples capable of coming out for the Murim Regular Exam, it would be even higher.

In particular, that bastard Hyeon Su who had designated me was a talent who, in my previous life, had passed the Regular Exam at the top of this cohort and later even entered the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly.

Yong So-ah’s radiant genius had made the disciples of the “Hyeon” generation seem half-baked, but if one considered them separately, they too were people who would each leave a name in the history of the murim.

By simple calculation, the Gold, Silver, and Bronze brothers would have to attack together to face one Wudang swordsman.

However, there was no way the Murim Alliance would listen if they said, “There is a difference in inner arts, so the three of us will go out together!” And if they went out pointlessly, since they had already incurred resentment, it was not an idle worry that they might be injured even more severely and become unable to take the Great Journey.

“Of course, I don’t think you will be unable to take the exam without us, Senior Brother. Still, would it not be more convenient to have us than to not have us?”

“Geum-pyo…….”

“Yes.”

“I will overlook it only this once.”

“Hehe…… yes!”

For some reason, Geum-pyo rubbed both hands together and showed a servile smile.

Eun-ho sighed as he looked at his older brother.

“Do you perhaps want us not to yield to impossibility? If that is the case, we can do it as much as you like. However, looking at the larger picture, we thought moving together with Eldest Senior Brother would be more helpful.”

Dong-ryong nodded repeatedly while hugging the Firmament Sword tightly.

“Why do you begin by thinking of losing?”

“…….”

“Do you know that the ‘spirit’ in essence, Qi, and spirit cannot accept negation?”

The three Gold, Silver, and Bronze brothers tilted their heads in the same direction at the same time.

“Tsk, tsk. Studying only martial formulas is not what matters. Without understanding and insight into all things in the world, you become trapped within your own limits.”

“Does understanding and insight into all things in the world allow us to overcome the difference in inner arts?”

How irreverent of him when his great, great Eldest Senior Brother was speaking.

Eun-ho, you bastard, you must surely have been poisoned by the Demonic Qi of the Dark Soul-Severing Unit.

“Geum-pyo.”

“Yes!”

“Aaaagh!”

After being choked once by Geum-pyo, Eun-ho frowned deeply and rubbed his neck.

I continued speaking.

“The moment you begin thinking, ‘How do I avoid losing?’ the thought ‘I will lose’ is already planted in your head.”

“Then?”

“You must think about how to win in order to find a way to win.”

“A way to win?”

“Think carefully. The clues are close to you.”

By common sense, there was no way for a Taeul Sect disciple to defeat a Wudang swordsman.

However, if one considered the special nature of a martial duel and approached it not as a matter of incapacitating the opponent and taking his life, but as obtaining the Trial Token, other methods appeared.

Moreover, were those bastards’ Eldest Senior Brother not a Third-Rate Warrior who had memorized all the Shattering Forms of the Nine Sects and One Gang?

The problem was that I only knew the Shattering Form of the Wudang Sect’s Taiji Sword, but that also meant we only had to solve this problem.

If they recalled the time I faced Namgung San, they should be able to find the method.

“……Ah!”

Eun-ho, who had been thinking for a long time, opened his mouth as though he had realized something.

“Do you understand something?”

“Perhaps…… do you believe in some new religion? Something like, if you believe, it will come true……?”

“…….”

“To think I have to do something like this.”

He had heard that Il-gak of Shaolin had obtained three First Trial Tokens and two Second Trial Tokens.

Compared to Hyeon Su’s original objective of five First Trial Tokens and two Second Trial Tokens, it was nothing special, but in the current situation, he could not help but envy Il-gak.

Northern Reverence Shaolin.

Southern Veneration Wudang.

People in the world described the two great trees of the murim this way, but it had been a long time since the actual weight of the scales had shifted toward Wudang.

Was that not clear just from the fact that the Murim Alliance’s headquarters were located in Hubei Province, where Wudang stood, and not in Henan Province, where Shaolin stood?

The common people, who liked to become intoxicated with vulgar things, always enjoyed seeing rivals compete, so they wanted Wudang to have an opponent as well. If one searched with generous countryside sentiment, there was Shaolin, so there was no reason to feel offended even if those who did not know better compared Shaolin to Wudang.

However, even the one standing at the highest place ultimately had to prove himself.

The moment the exam location for this Murim Regular Exam was assigned to Henan Province, Hyeon Su had not minded defeating Shaolin and once again proving Wudang’s value to the Jianghu.

“But to think it would be the Taeul Sect.”

He had obtained one First Trial Token and had been looking for another mountain stronghold to obtain the next First Trial Token.

When he thought of how Yong So-ah, the Eldest Senior Brother of the previous cohort, had entered Murim Academy with a record achievement, Hyeon Su had even been prepared to surpass not only Il-gak but also Eldest Senior Brother’s record.

However, Hyeon Su’s exam had stopped there. The main mountain had obtained and delivered Spiritual Medicine, then immediately moved Hyeon Su and his junior brothers to Nanyue.

“Was it not inevitable? Whatever ignorant people may say, we are not swayed by it, but they directly mentioned Eldest Senior Brother.”

Tae Myeong, another victim of this exam, spoke.

As he said, the words of the world were too noisy for the great Wudang Sect to ignore.

“Hmph! What a truly rootless epithet. Black Flame Dragon, of all things.”

Ever since Eldest Senior Brother Hyeoncheong had received the epithet Yong So-ah through the Murim Regular Exam, Yong So-ah had been an existence symbolizing Wudang’s true strength and the pride of the Wudang Sect’s disciples.

Even the moniker Small Buddha was nothing more than a star in the night sky compared to the sun called Yong So-ah.

Yet the lawless Black Path rabble had brought over some disciple of the rootless Taeul Sect from who knew where, attached the epithet “Black Flame Dragon” to him, and compared him to Yong So-ah.

It seemed there had been some misunderstanding, since even among the Orthodox Path sects, stories cursing Yong So-ah appeared from time to time, but he did not pay much attention to it.

If Senior Brother Hyeoncheong had made such a choice on the Demon Spirit Plateau, did that not mean that choice had been the best one at the time?

“Still, considering Elder Sword-Breaker guaranteed it, could it not be said that the Taeul Sword Emperor’s martial arts have returned?”

“Is it only a day or two that the elder has acted eccentrically? He must have once again taken martial arts of uncertain authenticity for some absurdly malicious reason and called them the Taeul Sword Emperor’s martial arts.”

Had the Henan Daoist Monastery Master not also said that no exam had ever been as murky as this Murim Regular Exam?

All sorts of bizarre rumors and strange incidents kept occurring one after another. In the first place, just look at how Jin So-un, who had been expected to be led here by Taejeong’s hand, had arrived at Nanyue on his own two feet.

“Still, I hope that rumor is true.”

“Ah, that one?”

Was it that he had nine First Trial Tokens and seven Second Trial Tokens?

If that was true, then entering Murim Academy at the top, ahead of Il-gak, was not an absurd story. Of course, it was information that could not be believed.

“Senior Brother, it is time.”

The one whose duel was scheduled first today was Hyeon Gun, the youngest.

Since there were only four disciples of the Taeul Sect, Hyeon Su had tried to find him another suitable opponent, but Murong Jae-hwa had suddenly stormed in, gotten angry by himself, and abruptly applied for a matchup.

“don’t worry too much. The Murong Clan’s Heaven-Earth Wave-Splitting Sword is an Ultimate Art, but Murong Jae-hwa’s comprehension is far below Smiling Iron Sword’s.”

“I am not worried.”

In the main drill yard, those waiting for the exam, those waiting for other examinees, and those who had merely come to watch had gathered.

After all the members of the Wudang Sect entered the main drill yard, it was not long before the Taeul Sect disciple and his companions entered.

“What a peculiar sight.”

Murong Jae-hwa still looked full of anger, while Jin So-un and Dong-ryong of the Taeul Sect seemed no different from usual. By contrast, Geum-pyo and Eun-ho looked haggard, as though they had not slept a wink all night.

“At this rate, it seems no different from forfeiting the martial duel.”

“don’t let your guard down until the very end.”

Hyeon Su said that, but inwardly, he could not help sneering.

This was how it was. Facing Wudang meant placing this kind of pressure on the opponent.

“Begin!”

At the judge’s shout, Hyeon Gun and Murong Jae-hwa unfolded their starting stances.

Hyeon Gun used Wudang’s pride, the Taiji Sword, while Murong Jae-hwa used the Murong Clan’s main sword art, the Heaven-Earth Wave-Splitting Sword.

Considering that the epithet Wind Earl Sword-Breaker had ultimately begun from the Heaven-Earth Wave-Splitting Sword, it was not a sword art that could be ignored, but what mattered was that it depended on the person using that martial art.

“It is over.”

The tip of Murong Jae-hwa’s sword trembled faintly as he unfolded his starting stance.

It was slight enough that most people would not notice, but anyone who had achieved Sword and Self as One would immediately recognize the deficiency.

Considering that the Heaven-Earth Wave-Splitting Sword had sublimated two incompatible principles, Weight and Speed, into one sword art, it was a martial art whose destructive power would not be expressed unless the user reached a certain level and gained personal realization.

By contrast, the Taiji Sword was a useful sword art created upon the two qualities that formed the foundation of all creation, Yin and Yang, so one could gain enlightenment simply by practicing it over a long period even without prior realization.

Clangclangclang.

Sure enough, once they passed thirty moves, Murong Jae-hwa’s hands and feet began tangling.

Simply by changing its quality from Yin to Yang, and from Yang to Yin, Hyeon Gun prevented Murong Jae-hwa from unfolding his own sword art.

The face that had been full of anger took on confusion, and in the end, it became an expression that looked as though he might cry.

Unable to rashly cut away the Taiji Sword with Speed or smash it with Weight, Murong Jae-hwa was dragged around by the crossing swords, and in the end, a sword touched below his neck.

“Stop! Examinee Murong Jae-hwa! Will you continue?”

“Huu, huu, huu, huu.”

If he had found a suitable opponent and fought a martial duel, he would have passed the third trial as well.

However, recklessly issuing an impossible challenge against a Wudang swordsman was the act of someone unqualified as a warrior, who must always look back on himself with cool reason.

And the resentment over such a foolish choice would be expressed toward blaming oneself.

“Answer! Will you continue?”

“I…… I lost.”

At the sight of Murong Jae-hwa lowering his head deeply, people let out exclamations of admiration.

Though Wudang’s true strength had not even been properly shown yet, people felt reverence simply from seeing even a small strand of Wudang.

That was precisely Wudang’s position in the Jianghu.

“The next matchup is Wudang’s Hyeon Su! Taeul Sect’s Jin So-un!”

When Hyeon Su’s name was called, the cheers in the area grew even louder.

Though he had not shone because of Yong So-ah’s name, he too was already famous for possessing inner arts and skill unbelievable for someone his age. He was Hyeon Su, the Wudang Little Dragon, who already possessed one cycle of inner arts at twenty.

“Senior Brother Hyeon Su, they say the new Taeul Sect sword art mixes Illusion Sword and Variation Sword.”

At Tae Myeong’s words, Hyeon Su could not hold back a sneer.

“They said it changed, and yet it is merely Illusion and Variation? You all should remember this as well. Deception cannot shake Taiji.”

“We will remember!”

When he stepped onto the main drill yard, Jin So-un was standing there in black from his martial arts uniform to his sword.

“You did well not to run away.”

“Run away? Me?”

Seeing Jin So-un slyly point at himself with his finger, the peace of mind Hyeon Su had built with Dao Power shattered, and the thought that he wanted to break that finger came to him.

“Since your courage is commendable, I will yield three moves.”

Jin So-un tilted his head. Of course, he would not understand that an opponent no different from a life-and-death enemy would yield three moves.

“I want to see the Taeul Sword Emperor’s sword art you supposedly obtained. If this ends before I even get to witness that legendary martial art, would the people gathered here not be far too disappointed?”

At Hyeon Su’s words, laughter broke out in every direction.

“““Ahahahahaha”””

Jin So-un still thought deeply, then asked the judge.

“Is this allowed?”

While still pointing at Hyeon Su with that finger Hyeon Su wanted to snap.

“If both sides agree, there is no issue.”

“I understand. You will really be fine, right?”

“Go ahead, as much as you…….”

As Hyeon Su continued speaking, Jin So-un’s black martial arts uniform swelled as though it would burst.

At the release of an unusual Qi Wave, Hyeon Su’s heart sank. His emotions told him it was dangerous, while his reason gave a different, mixed message, and the two opposing opinions made his movement hesitate.

Swoosh.

The moment Jin So-un swung his sword, Jin So-un’s Black Dragon Sword appeared in every direction.

Front, back, left, right, and even the sky were all filled with black swords.

He knew they were illusions and variations, but there were so many that he could not tell which one was real.

Hyeon Su forgot that he had said he would yield three moves and instinctively unfolded the Taiji Sword.

However.

‘What am I supposed to block first?’

There were too many swords.