The Genius Warrior Who Remembers Everything Chapter 116

Chapter 116. The Black Flame Dragon Dressed in Gold

The Elder Hall of the Murim Alliance was not an easygoing place.

One had to have more than twenty years of experience within the Murim Alliance, or personally possess representational authority over one’s sect or over multiple forces.

When one looked at the faces of those who received an Elder position after such severe screening, most were either hardliners who despised the Black Path, or born politicians.

Because of that, what the Black Path Murim and Jin So-un had done this time split the Elder Hall into two sides.

Those who had various grudges against Jin So-un saw this incident and felt their blood flow backward.

“To let someone who colluded with the Black Path enter the Murim Academyyy! Is that supposed to be an argument? Or a fart?”

“Compose yourself. How vulgar, talking about farts in the Elder Hall. And to be honest, can you definitively say he colluded with them?”

“They threatened, intimidated, and guarded the area so the examinees could not even get near! If that is not collusion, then what is it!”

On the other hand, the members of the Five Great Clans who had ties to Jin So-un were putting up a desperate defense.

“Exactly. Why did you mobilize disciples whose exams had already ended and send them all the way to Henan Province?”

“W-What! D-Do you have proof!”

“Proof, my ass. Do you think we would not know that the reason someone who took the exam in Jiangnan crawled all the way up to Henan Province was to strike down Jin So-un, who had the highest score?”

“T-They must have wanted to get better results. Ahem.”

Seeing the faces of the Righteous Path Association members turn sulky, the members of the Orthodox Path Association sneered.

The greatest point of contention was not actually whether Jin So-un had joined hands with the Black Path or not.

In this exam, the disciples of the Nine Sects and One Gang had taken the places from second to fifth.

If not for Jin So-un, they could have taken first place themselves, but because of Jin So-un alone, the entire ranking was about to be pushed down by one place each.

Since the heads of the Murim Alliance Elders were filled with the conviction, ‘Even if it is not my gain, I can endure it if you suffer a loss,’ the fact that this incident could touch the interests of the Righteous Path Association was something the Orthodox Path Association could not miss.

“To say Jin So-un should be failed means everyone who moved with Jin So-un should be failed as well. Then are you saying even the children of the Murong Clan and the Namgung Clan should be failed?”

Moreover, among Jin So-un’s party were children of the Murong Clan and the Namgung Clan, both belonging to the Orthodox Path Association.

For the Orthodox Path Association, this was a situation from which they absolutely could not retreat.

“……They say it was Jin So-un who planned and led the matter, so for now, let us fail only him.”

“If you put it that way, what about Jin So-un’s Junior Brothers? The people receiving the most support from the public these days are those three brothers. If they are failed, the Murim Alliance will certainly be criticized for favoring only the disciples of prestigious sects.”

“……They, too, merely moved according to what Jin So-un, their Eldest Senior Brother, told them to do, did they not? Let them pass as well.”

“Then what is Jin So-un’s reason for failing?”

The basic principle of politics was to compromise appropriately when one side took a step back, but the Orthodox Path Association, having bitten into the Righteous Path Association’s weakness once, showed no sign of retreating.

Their justification was also good.

That they could not damage the prestige of the Murim Regular Exam, widely known as a fair and impartial exam.

Thus, the Elder Hall forgot even its original duty of drafting Alliance Laws, and after endless discussion and debate, decided to drag its heavy old body to the Murim Academy in person in order to judge whether Jin So-un had committed any crime and to clearly reveal the truth of the incident.

Fortunately, I had not failed.

To be precise, they said I had to undergo an evaluation.

In the Murim Regular Exam, where pass and fail were decided solely by the number of Entry Tokens, this was an extremely exceptional matter, so the examiner had said it that way, and thanks to that, a major incident had nearly happened.

“……Seon-hwa, even so, you should not act immediately like that.”

“I am sorry, Elder Sister. But I truly could not keep my reason under control.”

The moment she heard that I had failed, Namgung Seon-hwa had almost literally killed the examiner.

The examiner, who had been about to explain the reason after announcing my failure, had nearly had his head sliced clean off by several strands of Sword Qi unleashed through the Boundless Firmament Sword Art.

Thanks to Kang Seo-pyo, Seong Mo-ran, and Cho Mu-bin barely stopping her, the examiner’s life was saved, but the examination table was completely smashed apart. Those who entered the Academy after us had to receive their dirt-covered acceptance notices from a stall laid out on the ground.

“But…… if Young Master Jin truly fails the exam, then I will not enter the Academy either.”

“……Youuu……”

Murong Jae-hwa, who had been fiddling with the Entry Token he had received from me, added his words.

“I, too, will follow Brother to the Taeul Sect.”

Hm?

Leaving aside not entering the Academy, why would you follow me to the Taeul Sect?

Whether they knew what I was thinking or not, even the Gold-Silver-Copper Brothers looked as if they were about to say something with determined faces, so I quickly stopped them.

“Stop. The result has not even come out yet. Do you think I will obediently accept failing?”

In the first place, if I could not have passed, I would not have done something like throwing myself into Four Emperors Peak.

If they said they could not allow my entry because I had joined hands with Black Path bastards while carrying the epithet Black Flame Dragon, then I had no intention of dying alone.

“Attention! Everyone stand properly! The Entrance Ceremony has not even begun yet.”

“You there, move closer to the side. Why are you standing so far away!”

The Instructors told them to line up, but no one moved rashly.

Except for the area where we were, the entering students around us stood in a circle as if we had the plague and refused to come near.

The Instructors raised their voices even more, but as expected of those from illustrious backgrounds, none of them showed signs of being shaken by half-baked authority.

In the end, they failed to straighten the lines before the Entrance Ceremony began, and the people who entered with the Academy Head frowned when they saw the disorderly atmosphere in the field.

“What in the world is this commotion?”

“Ah, well, the matter of admission has not yet been fully settled.”

They had to conduct the Entrance Ceremony, but the matter of admission had not been settled.

At this unprecedented situation, even the parents and related parties of the examinees watching their children’s Entrance Ceremony from the audience seats were murmuring.

‘Truly…… What a spectacular scene……’

At the center of the audience seats, there were people whom other parents and related parties did not want to approach, just like us.

They were the great figures of the Black Path Murim.

‘Why are you people attending this?’

The funeral bier procession, which I had naturally assumed would head toward the Murim Alliance, had stopped marching the moment I received my notice of failure.

At this rate, even if I wanted to deny that I had a relationship with the Black Path sects, I could not.

As if to prove they were the Black Path, they were casting dark clouds over the splendid future of an Orthodox Path person.

“Everyone, please pay attention. Before the Entrance Ceremony, there is a grave controversy regarding the exam results, so we will settle that issue first.”

Everyone’s gaze fixed on me.

Their eyes said they already knew it had something to do with me even without hearing what the issue was.

“Because this is an issue that became such a major point of contention, we have invited honored guests from the Alliance to judge the results of this exam.”

The people whom the Murim Academy Head introduced with great courtesy were none other than those who occupied the Elder Hall of the Murim Alliance.

At their appearance, not only the entering students, but everyone sitting in the audience seats rose from their seats.

Of course, the great figures of the Black Path remained seated, giggling among themselves because someone they knew had appeared.

“……”

Nearly thirty figures from the Elder Hall had all come at once.

Seeing that they had moved those heavy backsides just to drop me, I could tell how much they hated the Black Path.

But a strange scene was captured at the same time.

The Elders belonging to the Righteous Path Association, led by Daoist Master Myeonghyeon, and the Elders of the Orthodox Path Association, led by Murong Cheong, were subtly keeping their distance from one another.

“Candidate Jin So-un, step forward!”

Leaving behind the small encouragements from Namgung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran, I stepped forward with a calm expression.

Daoist Master Myeonghyeon, with whom I had ties even in my previous life, stared at me with an expression full of contempt, similar to the one he had worn in my previous life.

“I heard that Candidate Jin So-un dared to act violently in violation of the solemn and strict norms of the Murim Regular Exam, and caused the examination site to fall into disorder.”

“……”

The one who had tried to take the examiner’s neck was Namgung Seon-hwa, though…….

“The Murim Academy is a training ground meant to cultivate talents who will carry out Purging Demons and Destroying Evil at the front line of the Murim Alliance. However, you dared to collude with the cruel and merciless Black Path, damaged the essence of the exam, and inflicted a sense of relative deprivation upon the other examinees.”

Not only Daoist Master Myeonghyeon, who spoke as if foaming at the mouth, but the examinees and the Academy officials were all looking at us with hostile eyes.

“Accordingly, no matter how high your results may be, we hereby state that we cannot permit your admission.”

Crack. Crack.

Behind me, Namgung Seon-hwa was loosening her body.

Had she forgotten that a collateral-line member of the Namgung Clan was watching from the position of an Elder?

“Is that the decision of the Murim Alliance?”

“What- Are you saying that I-.”

“Or is it the opinion of the entire Elder Hall?”

“……”

Daoist Master Myeonghyeon glanced toward the Orthodox Path Association.

He had probably won the justification battle against the Righteous Path Association.

But if one folded one’s opinion just because one had lost a fight, one was not a true politician.

“As you just said, the Murim Academy is a place meant to cultivate later-generation talents filled with chivalrous righteousness for Purging Demons and Destroying Evil.”

I stepped forward and infused inner arts into my voice.

“From that perspective, I, Jin So-un of the Taeul Sect! Can say that I took this exam fairly, without a single speck of blemish!! Therefore, if you try to fail me, I can only think that Daoist Master Myeonghyeon and the Righteous Path Association have intervened because the prepared talent of the Nine Sects and One Gang could not take first place.”

“!!”

“The four of us passed the First Trial without hiring a single warrior, passed the Second Trial without spending a single coin, and passed even the Third Trial fair and square. What reason is there for someone like me not to enter the Murim Academy?”

“Do you not think that is precisely the problem! Who in the world could take the exam in such a manner!”

Just as in my previous life, Daoist Master Myeonghyeon lost his reason and made self-defeating moves when he became agitated.

“Ah…… Then was the Murim Regular Exam originally designed so that those without money and power could not pass it? Did I pass such an exam?”

“Y-You……”

Daoist Master Myeonghyeon’s face twisted completely.

After being urged by the Elders behind him, he restored his expression and spoke again.

“Then what about the fact that you finished the Great Journey by colluding with Black Path groups?”

“I have never colluded with Black Path groups!”

“Such ridiculous……”

I pointed at the great figures of the Black Path, whom people were trying to avoid like the plague, and spoke.

“Since, by co.in.ci .dence, they are present here, why not ask them directly? Listen, Black Path lackeys! Did this chivalrous hero overflowing with the righteous spirit of the Orthodox Path, Jin So-un, collude with you bastards?”

At my words, the faces of the Black Path’s great figures crumpled all at once, and they spat curses.

“That son of a bitch. Should I peel his hide off?”

“You brat of the Orthodox Path! Do you want to be beaten to death in one blow?!”

The Four Emperors Peak Lord chuckled and answered.

“You madman, what sort of dog-shit nonsense are you spouting? You are not the Murim Alliance Leader, so what reason would we have to collude with a mere disciple of the Taeul Sect?”

I turned my head again and looked at Daoist Master Myeonghyeon.

“You saw that, did you not? The issue of colluding with Black Path groups has also been resolved. Then what legitimate reason is there now for me not to enter the Academy?”

Daoist Master Myeonghyeon’s face flushed bright red.

The Elders of the Righteous Path Association merely stared blankly at the great figures of the Black Path with dazed faces.

I put even more inner arts into my voice.

So that it could be heard not only throughout the training ground, but in every corner of the audience seats as well.

“In the end…… Is the true reason that a disciple of the Nine Sects and One Gang failed to take first place?! Is that truly it!”

The greatest driving force that moved the Murim Alliance was neither martial force nor influence.

‘Justification.’

The Murim Alliance was a place moved by this justification, and I possessed a heap of weapons concerning the justification they loved so much.

If one did not throw such fine weapons into the opponent’s face, one was a fool.

And I was not a fool.

“If that is so! If not only the Murim Academy, but even the Murim Alliance itself has forgotten fairness and fallen into a group that exists only to secure its own interests!”

Lumping others together with the opponent’s weakness and binding them into one group was a technique politicians truly loved.

As expected, the expressions of the Elder Council members who had been attacked were not good.

Now it was time for the finishing technique.

“I will not enter the Academy according to your will. No, even if you tell me to enter, I will not.”

Along with those words, I threw the Entry Tokens I had obtained onto the ground.

Entry Tokens, each one more expensive than a mansion, rolled across the ground like stones on the floor.

At that moment, Namgung Seon-hwa, who had been standing behind me, threw the Entry Tokens she had in her robes on top of the Entry Tokens I had thrown.

“I also think there is nothing to learn from a place this unfair. I will not enter.”

Clatter.

The number was pitiful compared to mine.

But the audience seats stirred far more than they had when I did it.

When Seong Mo-ran, the Gold-Silver-Copper Brothers, and even Murong Jae-hwa poured theirs out one after another, the Trial Tokens thrown onto the ground looked as insignificant as pebbles by a riverside.

“Y-You……!”

As I looked at Daoist Master Myeonghyeon’s face, flushed bright red, I made a resolute expression.

“I have never once questioned the Murim Regular Exam! Why the disciples of our Orthodox Path sects must fight one another while shedding blood, why they must exhaust their family fortunes until the very pillars of their houses are pulled out to take this exam. I have never doubted it!”

The most important thing when swindling someone was empathy of emotion.

I struck my chest hard enough to break it and spoke.

“Why! Because I believed all of this was for the peace and stability of the Murim, and accepted it as natural. But!! If all of this was nothing more than a ranking game you created! If our desperate efforts were nothing but a folding screen for your benefit!! Then no matter what honor it may be, I refuse it!!”

Historically, most of the top-ranking entrants had come from the Nine Sects and One Gang.

There were occasionally some from the Five Great Clans as well, but it was customary for the Nine Sects and One Gang, which were on a completely different level in terms of numbers, to take most of the top-ranking entrants.

But the small stone I had thrown created a great ripple in the river.

Because even in their minds, the exam had always been strange.

They had merely lived thinking it was natural.

“Y-You! Damned bastard, how dare you……”

Perhaps feeling insulted, Daoist Master Myeonghyeon’s face flushed bright red.

His martial arts uniform swelled, and he looked as if he wanted to leap out at any moment and break my neck.

Just in case, I, too, was about to slowly raise my inner arts.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk.. What are these old men doing, dragging their heavy backsides here only to smear shit on their own faces……”

At the voice that was clearly mocking the Elder Hall, the heads of Daoist Master Myeonghyeon and the other Elders snapped around.

The owner of the voice seemed not to care at all about the Elders’ sharp gazes, and he walked with steady steps into the center.

“Step aside. And in the first place, have you forgotten that you do not have the authority to decide pass or fail?”

Daoist Master Myeonghyeon opened his eyes wide.

“W-What does that mean…… Strategist Jegal, are you saying you will defend that Jin So-un now?”

Regardless of what Daoist Master Myeonghyeon said, every person in the field tensed at the existence of the uninvited guest who had suddenly appeared.

And as if he did not care about the people around him, he sat in the Academy Head’s seat, which had been vacated on its own, and gently fanned himself with a folding fan.

“You truly cause trouble wherever you go.”

The Grand Strategist of the Murim Alliance.

Jegal So-myeong had appeared.