The Genius Warrior Who Remembers Everything Chapter 68

Chapter 68. The ‘First’ Trial of the Hell Regular Exam (2)

The Murim Alliance had been formed five hundred years ago with the appearance of the Demonic Cult.

After driving out the Demonic Cult, the remaining members of the Murim Alliance at the time left the Murim Alliance behind as proof of their sworn pact.

In the Jianghu, which had no master, interests began to gather around the Murim Alliance, and the Murim Alliance achieved rapid growth.

However, the influx of talent that should have accompanied that rapid growth became entangled in blood ties, regional ties, and official ties, creating a downward leveling of standards. Thus, three hundred years ago, Murim Academy was established to cultivate talent that would protect the order of the Murim Alliance and the Jianghu.

In that way, Murim Academy became a symbol of success for martial artists.

Those who entered the Murim Alliance through Murim Academy were treated as officers, while those who entered the Murim Alliance as lower-rank warriors could not be promoted to Deputy Pavilion Master or higher.

For prestigious great sects, entering the Murim Alliance as lower-rank warriors with limits on promotion was an unbearable humiliation.

The entrance exam competition that began in that way endlessly raised the level of the exam, and at some point, people began calling the Murim Academy Regular Exam the Hell Regular Exam.

“Do you understand now? What kind of exam you were trying to take?”

“…….”

“…….”

“…….”

I told the boys, “Go back. I will not stop you.”

If I wished to protect all the children of Taeul Sect, we needed more people from Murim Academy.

But now, we had also inherited the True Inheritance of the Taeul Sword Emperor, and various conditions had been added.

There was no need for everyone to risk their lives taking the Murim Academy Regular Exam.

However, despite my persuasion, the Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers did not back down.

“What are you talking about?”

“Please don’t say something so absurd.”

“What kind of resolve do you think we endured that training with?”

Contrary to my worries, the boys’ fighting spirit was still blazing.

“We are going with you even if only because it would be unfair.”

“If you leave us behind, we will follow you even if it kills us.”

“Me too!”

Well, after working that hard, if I left them behind, there was no telling what those three brothers would do to me later.

“You are confident you will not regret it?”

“You said that disciples of Taeul Sect don’t regret.”

“Who did?”

“Eldest Senior Brother did.”

“…….”

Why were these boys saying things I, who possessed absolute memory, could not remember?

“Eldest Senior Brother, but why mountain strongholds?”

At Dong-ryong’s question, I said, “That has to do with the number of examinees.”

“Examinees?”

The number of people Murim Academy selected in one round was only eight hundred and ninety-two.

Including the one hundred and eight selected from the One Hundred Eight Peaks, the total came to one thousand.

The number of people applying to Murim Academy ranged roughly from two hundred thousand to three hundred thousand.

If the warriors they led around were included, that number approached one million.

Through this opportunity, the Murim Alliance created the First Trial with the intention of handling the complaints and petitions that came into the Murim Alliance while also reducing the number of examinees.

“The number of mountain strongholds designated by the Murim Alliance is four thousand nationwide. This means all mountain strongholds that have the potential to grow to a large scale, excluding the Seventy-Two Green Forest Strongholds represented by the Green Forest Alliance.”

Most of the mountain strongholds belonging to the Green Forest Alliance were made up of bandits from the Black Path who had learned martial arts.

They were closer to gangs and sects than to ordinary mountain strongholds.

“Then only four thousand people pass the first trial?”

“Yes.”

It was truly an exquisite move.

Those without decent martial arts, those without forces, and those without power would be eliminated in the first exam.

At the same time, once the exam was completed, the mountain strongholds that had been tormenting the Murim Alliance would disappear all at once.

The Murim Alliance would sit still and hold an exam while also resolving a problem.

“Then is this really the time for us to be doing this?”

Eun-ho was indeed quick-witted.

I smiled and asked,

“Why?”

“Should we not hurry and claim the weakest mountain stronghold among the four thousand first? We have so few people to begin with.”

“Yes, let us go for now.”

I took the boys to Mount Hwaun.

“Is this not Mount Hwaun? Is there a mountain stronghold here?”

“No.”

“Then?”

“There is something you boys must do before clearing a mountain stronghold.”

“?”

“Stand in front of me.”

The Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers stood side by side.

“You have learned moving circulation before, right?”

Geum-pyo tilted his head.

“Moving circulation, you mean?”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

“What did you learn?”

“The Swift Blossom Hall Master told me, ‘Geum-pyo, no matter what situation you are in, you must not use moving circulation.’”

“And?”

“Um…… Ah! He also said this. ‘If you really have to use it, if you really, truly have no choice, if your life is really, truly in danger…… still don’t use it.’”

“You learned well.”

“……Ah, surely not?”

Moving circulation was one of the representative qi circulation methods alongside standing circulation, seated circulation, and reclining circulation.

“You will learn that moving circulation anew.”

“……Senior Brother.”

“What is it?”

“Let me tell you one thing. When the Sect Leader sent us, he also gave us a mission to monitor Senior Brother. He told us to make sure to stop you if you did anything insane.”

The representative qi circulation method in the Jianghu was seated circulation because of its efficiency and stability, while moving circulation was regarded with suspicion because, unlike seated circulation, its efficiency and stability were not guaranteed.

“Did I not tell you? You will learn it anew.”

“…….”

“Memorize well what I recite.”

During my time in the Sojeong Squad, I always ran into limits because my inner arts were meager.

The enemies poured in endlessly, and we had no time to rest, so there was no leisure to circulate qi.

Yet without even the faintest amount of inner arts, we could not deal with Demonic Practitioners who had learned Demonic Arts.

Most of the Sojeong Squad members were the same.

After experiencing the threat of Qi Deviation hundreds of times, I created a new moving circulation method.

‘Thinking about it now, it really was insane. I could do it only because I was prepared to die.’

As the sight of me growing tired in battle gradually disappeared, the Sojeong Squad members began taking interest, and I shared it with them.

The Sojeong Squad members attached the name of my vanished sect to the nameless moving circulation method.

It was Taeul Moving Circulation.

“Have you memorized it?”

“…….”

Their gazes were still full of distrust.

These boys, who had no trust in their Eldest Senior Brother, deserved punishment, did they not?

I released killing intent toward the three of them.

“Keugh!”

“Hup!”

“Kkeugh!”

The boys’ faces turned deathly pale as if they had seen a ghost, and they scattered in every direction.

After I used Innate Energy in the martial duel with Hwa Jeong-san and drew the Taeul True Scripture to its utmost level, my killing intent had become even denser, so the boys looked as if their souls would leave their bodies any moment.

“Huff, huff, huff. W-What was that, Senior Brother?”

“Why, why are you doing this?”

“Stand again.”

At my words, the three brothers began staggering back toward me despite their reluctant steps.

“From now on, I will slowly spread killing intent and gradually raise its intensity. Circulate the moving circulation.”

The boys began circulating the moving circulation with the desperate desire to survive.

“How is it?”

“……Huh? It is getting better?”

I doubled the killing intent.

“How about now?”

“It is…… all right.”

Then I gradually raised the intensity of the killing intent until it reached about half of its earlier level.

“How is it now?”

“It is difficult, but…… it is all right.”

“This is one of the advantages of moving circulation.”

One effect gained from creating Taeul Moving Circulation was that one could maintain reason within killing intent and Demonic Qi.

At the same time, Taeul Moving Circulation could sensitively detect the threat of Qi Deviation, so it could make the user stop the moving circulation before they fell into Qi Deviation themselves.

“Ah! So you mean we should use this moving circulation when we feel killing intent?”

“What are you talking about? If that were all, why would you learn moving circulation?”

“Uh…… Then…….”

“From now on, circulate moving circulation the entire time you are awake. When walking, when running, and when fighting.”

“Senior Brother! Senior Brother!”

Dong-ryong raised his hand.

“What is it?”

“When I try to move, it feels as if my whole body will twist apart.”

“That is the safety mechanism. If you go further from there, you will enter Qi Deviation. So practice carefully, then move slowly.”

“…….”

The three brothers were practically looking at me like I was a madman.

“Why must we go this far?”

“First, your inner arts are far too shallow. If you move through Taeul Moving Circulation, you can steadily gather inner arts little by little, though the effect is faint compared to seated circulation. Second, you boys must take the exam and train at the same time. What use are the boys I brought all this way if you cannot even inherit the True Inheritance of the Taeul Sword Emperor? Third.”

This was the reason I was teaching the boys Taeul Moving Circulation.

“There are only four of us. And our competitors number close to one million. Do you think we will have time to rest?”

“…….”

“It is not only about the exam. In order for Taeul Sect, which possesses such faint strength, to soar, we will have to fight countless people countless times. Those who try to trample us will number in the thousands at minimum, and we will not even have time to rest.”

Once the Great Righteous-Demonic War broke out, terrible days without the slightest leisure would continue for years.

One had to use inner arts while also gathering inner arts, and maintain mental strength at the same time.

The Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers swallowed hard.

“If we do this…… can we defeat the people who block our path?”

“How do you think I have been winning until now?”

The three brothers’ eyes began to sparkle.

“Begin.”

Then they began slowly lifting their feet.

However, perhaps because they kept feeling that twitching sensation, their movements were slower than a snail’s, and their brows were tightly furrowed.

“If you don’t want to stay in Anhui Province throughout the entire Murim Academy exam, you had better work diligently.”

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t want to sleep on Mount Hwaun. If you boys don’t want to either, hurry down. I will wait at the foot of the mountain.”

I left the boys behind and headed down the mountain.

After descending Mount Hwaun, I took a small note from my sleeve.

-Sohwa Pavilion. A-Class Room.

When I was looking at the notice at the Murim Alliance’s Hefei Branch, someone had secretly tried a hand trick on me.

Naturally, I thought they were aiming for the money pouch in my bosom, so I grabbed their wrist and twisted it, but the other person did not even scream. Instead, they opened their palm, and this note was inside it.

“To contact me only now. They certainly took their time weighing things.”

After robbing Wolhyang’s grave in Hunan and disposing of the valuables, I had asked Yang Gun-baek for the status of a “Guest Retainer” of Hao Gate.

It had been several months since I gave him information about the Beggars’ Sect along with that request.

Only now had the answer come.

“They must have waited until their own value was at its highest.”

Together with the Murim Academy exam, the value of the Beggars’ Sect and Hao Gate would soar sky-high.

Hao Gate probably knew that as well and had delayed its answer to me.

There were three representative wine houses in Hefei’s entertainment district.

Manwol Pavilion, Johyang Pavilion, and Sohwa Pavilion.

Among them, the place Gye Cheol-yeong had constantly frequented was Johyang Pavilion, while the most expensive of the three, where only high officials and nobles came and went, was Sohwa Pavilion.

As soon as I entered Sohwa Pavilion, which was decorated from the entrance with splendid lanterns and cloth, a woman approached me wearing clothes that revealed her bare skin as if there had not been enough fabric.

Even after seeing my plain martial arts uniform and my appearance, which seemed poor no matter how one looked at it, she acted as if nothing were strange.

“Is there a courtesan you are looking for?”

“I have an appointment. I was told to come to the A-Class Room.”

The basic guest room at Sohwa Pavilion was the D-Class Room.

It was the most basic room, with one female servant, one male servant, and one courtesan attached to each guest.

An A-Class Room had four female servants and four male servants attached, musicians included, and four courtesans assigned to each guest.

It was truly a place only those who could throw money around could come.

Originally, it was not a space someone like me could enter.

But perhaps the woman also knew I was coming, because she guided me to the place without delay.

The room was more pleasant than I had expected.

There were no windows, but candles were lit here and there, and there was no miscellaneous furniture.

On one side, elderly maids and servants were waiting.

Though their clothing was simple, its texture looked like silk rather than ordinary cotton.

Pleasure houses often used old people as servants and maids in preparation for drunken customers trying to touch them.

This also had the effect of making the courtesans’ youthful and beautiful appearances stand out even more.

“They will come if you wait a moment.”

There were no courtesans in the room.

The male and female servants stood silently with their heads lowered, and even that sight gave off a feeling of luxury.

‘Is this why people come and spend money?’

A little while later, a woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties entered the room together with four warriors of extraordinary presence.

The beauty of the young woman who had just guided me was already no ordinary level, but the beauty now entering was even greater.

If not for the faint traces of time around her eyes and mouth, hers was a beauty that could truly shake the world.

Perhaps the middle-aged woman had no regrets about those traces of time, because aside from natural makeup, she did not try to hide her aging.

“I finally greet you. I offer my thanks on behalf of Hao Gate. I am Hao Gate Master Yeo Mi-mi.”

I also slowly rose and performed a clasped hands greeting.

“I am Jin So-un of Taeul Sect.”

“I have heard much of your reputation, Young Master Black Flame Dragon.”

“…….”

“I heard the story through Gun-baek. You said you wished to become a Guest Retainer, did you not?”

“Yes.”

“I apologize for being unable to give you a swift answer, as we had internal matters to confirm.”

“I understand.”

Unlike the Beggars’ Sect, most disciples of Hao Gate worked ordinary livelihoods.

In inns, in wine houses, in shops—wherever there were people, Hao Gate existed.

However, unlike the Beggars’ Sect, martial arts had not been handed down through them, and there were more civilians than warriors among them, so they worked even harder to conceal their identities.

“For our part, we had many concerns about how to accept Young Master Jin So-un.”

“Have those concerns now been settled?”

Hao Gate was generally closer to an organization that sold information, but in truth, the ones who used their information most were Hao Gate themselves.

For Hao Gate, the highest objective was to protect Hao Gate and maximize the interests of its disciples.

A “Guest Retainer” referred to a position as someone who stood beyond that objective of Hao Gate.

That was why, throughout its history, very few people had obtained the qualification of “Guest Retainer.”

And what people did not know was that one had to pass several tests in order to receive the qualification of Hao Gate’s “Guest Retainer.”

The first test was whether one possessed information Hao Gate did not have.

The fact that I had given Yang Gun-baek information about the Beggars’ Sect was because of that.

“Yes. We also confirmed the information Young Master Jin gave us.”

“Was it helpful?”

“Very much so. To be honest, it was truly difficult to find the source of where Young Master Jin obtained that information.”

“I am glad it was helpful.”

“But at the same time, we also have concerns. Whether we may accept someone outside our field of vision as a Guest Retainer, that is.”

“Is that not precisely why you should? The best way to observe an unknown target is to bring that target into your field of vision.”

Yeo Mi-mi sank into deep thought at my words.

What was peculiar was that even while she was thinking, she stared steadily into my eyes, giving me the feeling that she was observing what was inside them.

“I understand why Hao Gate’s closed nature is necessary. But if you become too buried in only that, will you not ultimately stagnate and rot?”

Yeo Mi-mi’s pupils shook for the first time.

“The incident at the Demon Spirit Plateau. If Hao Gate had possessed even one skilled Spell Practitioner, would Hao Gate ever have been placed in danger? What do you think would have happened if I had not been there?”

For the first time, Yeo Mi-mi lowered her head and fell into thought.

Then, soon after, she nodded.

“As expected, I heard that Young Master Black Flame Dragon’s scheming mind was deeper than the Boundless Indestructible Soul-Destroying Formation, and it seems the rumors were true.”

For the first time, a faint smile appeared on Yeo Mi-mi’s face.

How many men in the past must have burned with longing because of that smile?

“Very well. Let us do that. I prepared it just in case, and now I have ended up using it after all.”

Along with those words, Yeo Mi-mi held out a pouch made of silk.

Inside it, information was densely written about the examinees worth noting among those currently participating in the First Trial of the Murim Academy Regular Exam.

Yeo Mi-mi rose from her seat.

As I looked over the materials, I asked Yeo Mi-mi,

“Then is it over now?”

“Yes. Whenever you need Hao Gate’s help, please call on us.”

When Yeo Mi-mi rose, the warriors surrounded her all at once.

Still keeping my eyes fixed on the materials, I asked,

“Is that so?”

Hao Gate’s verification was not over yet.

“Then…… when may I meet the Gate Master?”

“…….”

Yeo Mi-mi’s face stiffened slightly as she snapped her head around.

“You contacted me quite late as it is, so I am rather busy. I would like the seat for verifying the qualification of ‘Guest Retainer’ to end quickly.”

The second test.

Whether one possessed eyes that could distinguish the truth.

I looked at the person standing at the very end of the elderly maids and asked,

“If the Gate Master thinks I am unnecessary, I will return. I cannot let my junior disciples sleep in the mountains, you see.”

“!”

Yeo Mi-mi’s pupils shook violently as she looked at me.