NOTICE: Many of the novels have been removed because they might cause violations, which we were not aware of earlier.
Chapter 86. Hell Regular Exam’s ‘Second’ Trial (3)
“Th-this…… makes no sense.”
A scream leaked from Jong Seo-gang’s mouth.
It was understandable. The Sangjeong Sect, which had seen this sight in my previous life, must have felt exactly the same way.
Mount Makgan, which had been nothing more than a nameless harsh mountain in my previous life, became famous after the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake appeared.
At the time, the Sangjeong Sect, which held the Seventeenth Peak of the One Hundred Eight Peaks, was the first to receive that news and mobilized every warrior in the sect, but they ultimately failed.
It was because Mount Makgan was not only home to the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake, but also to the One-Horned Black Toad, which was called the natural enemy of snakes.
The One-Horned Black Toad had revealed itself after smelling the fishy odor of the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake. Naturally, the warriors of the Sangjeong Sect should have fled from there, but unable to abandon their lingering desire for the two three-hundred-year-old Spiritual Creatures before their eyes, they ultimately suffered nearly four hundred casualties.
With that incident as the trigger, the weakened Sangjeong Sect could not withstand the offensive of the Blue Saber Gang and the Yellow Sword Sect, and eventually vanished into history.
And paradoxically, that very Blue Saber Gang and Yellow Sword Sect were now facing the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake and the One-Horned Black Toad here.
“Th-that horned toad first…… no, that snake first…….”
The One-Horned Black Toad, which had appeared after smelling the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake, soon changed targets because of the killing intent being shot out from every direction and began attacking the people.
Its long tongue appeared and disappeared in an instant, and three warriors vanished without a trace.
“Graaagh!”
“Kkiyaagaga.”
“Agagaga!”
Only the swords they had been holding remained where they had stood, and the One-Horned Black Toad raised its head and gulped down what was in its mouth.
“This damned toad bastard!”
The warriors, enraged at losing their comrades, charged at the toad like arrows, their eyes blazing.
Thud, thud, thud, thud.
At the same time, they sent their swords flying at the toad’s back, but the blades could not cut into the black toad’s flesh.
And the moment they sensed something strange was precisely then.
“Sniff, sniff. What is this…….”
“Keuheok.”
The warriors who had climbed onto the toad’s back to send out their swords suddenly dropped their blades and clutched their own throats.
As though unable to breathe, they quickly leapt down from the toad, but they could not walk even three steps.
Their faces, which had turned blue, soon changed to purple, then black, and they died as though they had frozen solid.
“It is poison!”
“don’t go near it!”
The battlefield instantly became a scene of Asura.
If they moved away from the One-Horned Black Toad, its lightning-like tongue flew at them.
If they retreated to get away even from that tongue, the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake opened its mouth wide and swallowed them whole.
“First, that bastard! Strike that bastard with the First Trial Tokens first!”
At Jong Seo-gang’s desperate cry, the warriors watching the chaos all looked at Gam Cheol-jin at once.
“You damned bastards! I am the one who will become the Sect Leader of the Yellow Sword Sect in the future! Move at once!”
“…….”
When Gam Cheol-jin nodded, only then did they begin approaching me again.
I drew up all my inner arts and released killing intent.
“Keuk, what kind of killing intent is…….”
“Damn it…….”
The warriors of the Yellow Sword Sect also began releasing killing intent wildly so they would not lose in momentum.
As the distance between me and those who had been flinching closed in an instant, our swords clashed.
Clang, clang, clang, clang.
I stepped with Taeul Eighty-Thousand Divine Steps and scattered Twin Heaven Sword Formula.
It seemed only Gam Cheol-jin and a few warriors had reached the Peak level, so Twin Heaven Sword Formula alone was enough to face them.
“He is retreating! Pressure him harder!”
I glanced once at the triumphant Jong Seo-gang, then spoke.
“You must be suffering because your leader is a fool.”
“…….”
Normally, Peak Warriors like Gam Cheol-jin should have been facing the two Spiritual Creatures, not me.
When a man who did not even know the basics of battle took command, it was only natural that those beneath him would suffer damage.
Grrrrk. Grrrrk.
The moment the One-Horned Black Toad’s cry rang out,
“Uh…… uh!”
The warriors, who had been frantically receiving Twin Heaven Sword Formula, were shocked as they realized they had somehow arrived right in front of the One-Horned Black Toad’s nose.
I immediately unfolded Ghost-Breathing Step and slipped between the One-Horned Black Toad’s legs.
“H-how?”
The warriors of the Yellow Sword Sect, who had stared blankly as I passed by the One-Horned Black Toad, turned deathly pale.
The One-Horned Black Toad’s tongue had now begun targeting them.
“Kkuaagh!”
“A-avoid it!”
“You fools! don’t avoid it! It is only one toad!”
At Jong Seo-gang’s screaming shout, the warriors of the Yellow Sword Sect could neither do this nor that, and only looked at Gam Cheol-jin.
“Face it with palm arts!”
“Yes!”
Then the warriors of the Yellow Sword Sect fired their palm arts all at once.
——————
faqwiki.xyz
Join our Discord for new chapter updates!
https://discord.com/invite/xr7SxG5T6V
——————
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!
Thick dust spread in every direction, hiding the One-Horned Black Toad’s form.
“…….”
“D-did we get it?”
The ominous warrior had barely finished speaking when a giant shadow fell over their heads.
“F-fuck!”
Thud.
Grrrrk. Grrrrk.
The One-Horned Black Toad began rampaging among the warriors without having suffered any damage.
“Are you all right?”
I immediately went to the Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers and checked on them.
Fortunately, none of them seemed badly injured.
“Eldest Senior Brother, what exactly is that thing?”
“What else would it be? A Second Trial Token.”
“Is this really the right way to pass the Second Trial?”
Eun-ho looked at me with eyes full of disbelief. This was the bastard who would recite all sorts of things I had never even said and claim I had said them, yet at times like this, he did not hide his distrust.
“Listen carefully. From now on, we strike the pursuers.”
“Pardon?!”
“Now?”
“Yes. If not now, we cannot shake them off. In addition, if others don’t learn that coming at us will cost them dearly, the pursuit will continue. Do you want to keep eating jerky with blood-soaked hands among corpses in the future too?”
“……Where do we strike first?”
Geum-pyo shook his head, as though the past few days had already become utterly sickening to him. If he was already like that, what would he do from now on?
“But will it be all right? Once we deal with them, I feel like we will become the prey next.”
“Why do you think I taught you Ghost-Breathing Step?”
“If we use Ghost-Breathing Step, that thing cannot recognize us?”
“Even if it has lived long enough to possess an Inner Core, it is only a mere creature. Because it has no intellect and has sharpened only its instincts, it will be even easier to deceive.”
“Understood.”
With those words, we scattered in every direction.
I immediately returned to the Yellow Sword Sect, which was facing the One-Horned Black Toad.
“Strike! Kill it! Why can you not even catch one mere toad?! Can you call yourselves warriors of the Yellow Sword Sect after this?!”
Jong Seo-gang had lost all his former coolness and was now shouting furiously in complete agitation.
The warriors of the Yellow Sword Sect, led by Gam Cheol-jin, were calmly continuing the hunt while keeping their distance, but in Jong Seo-gang’s eyes, it seemed as though they were avoiding a battle with the One-Horned Black Toad.
“Jin So-un! Where is Jin So-un?!”
He had been distracted by the One-Horned Black Toad for a moment, but he soon called my name and swept his gaze in every direction.
-Keok!
-Keok!
-T-Taeul Sect! Taeul Sect is attacking!
The screams of warriors began ringing out from afar.
Because of the thick dust spread everywhere, the warriors of the Yellow Sword Sect could not secure their field of vision, and they faced the One-Horned Black Toad while worrying about when they might be attacked.
Thanks to that, facing the One-Horned Black Toad was becoming more and more difficult.
“Young Master. Let us withdraw for now.”
“……What?”
“Right now, we are not prepared to hunt either the One-Horned Black Toad or the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake.”
“What are you saying?! The Second Trial Tokens and the First Trial Tokens are both right in front of us.”
“If this continues, every warrior of the Yellow Sword Sect may die.”
“Gam Cheol-jin!!!”
Jong Seo-gang’s rage-filled voice rang loudly through the field.
“Do you look down on me because I have not yet even received the position of Young Sword Lord?!”
“…….”
Jong Seo-gang looked as though he had become so agitated that even his reason had completely flown away.
“I am Jong Seo-gang of the Yellow Sword Sect!”
“…….”
“If we withdraw now, we will lose not only the First Trial Tokens, but also the Spiritual Creatures that can give us Second Trial Tokens! Can you take responsibility for that? Is that why you say such things?! Speak!”
“…….”
Jong Seo-gang was acting in exactly the same way he had acted in my previous life when he had ruined his own sect while working in the Execution Pavilion.
‘As expected, people don’t change.’
Thinking there was no need to pay any more attention to him, I immediately searched for Jang Sun-won, the Young Gang Chief of the Blue Saber Gang.
Jang Sun-won was watching every direction from the safest place together with his guard warriors.
“Your gang members are dying. Do you intend to merely watch?”
When I approached with Ghost-Breathing Step, they flinched in surprise.
“Jin So-un…….”
Jang Sun-won called my name as though grinding his teeth.
“How deeply moving. To think you would call my name like that.”
“……Do you know me?”
He looked as though he had no idea what I meant.
Of course he did. Our connection belonged to my previous life.
“If you take your warriors and leave, I will not catch you.”
“…….”
He looked troubled.
How shallow.
While his own gang members were dying, and the warriors of the sects that had agreed to work with him were dying, he was calculating gains and losses.
A typical trait of those who thought what they possessed was absolutely not inferior to their opponent’s.
‘And they usually make similar decisions.’
Jang Sun-won’s eyebrow rose.
“How dare you use such a shallow trick! You are the one who must hand over all the First Trial Tokens at once!”
“I knew you would choose that.”
A warrior like Gam Cheol-jin was not someone anyone could bring around.
And the Blue Saber Gang had never raised a hidden warrior at Gam Cheol-jin’s level.
The Black Dragon Sword, its blood not yet dry, swung and created dozens of illusion swords in every direction.
The guard warriors of the Blue Saber Gang stepped forward and swung their great sabers, but the essence of the great saber was weight.
It could not surpass Twin Heaven Sword Formula, which contained the essence of Variation Sword.
“Keuheok.”
“Keuk.”
When the four guard warriors collapsed in an instant, Jang Sun-won’s eyes began trembling violently.
“I-I understand. We will g-go back…….”
“Only when your own life is in danger do you make a decision?”
“Did I not say we would return?! We will return, so—”
“Die as befits a Young Gang Chief.”
“Keuheuk! You bastard! Even after doing this, our Blue Saber Gang will…….”
Jang Sun-won could not finish speaking before his chest split open, and he collapsed.
I filled my voice with inner arts and shouted loudly.
-The Young Gang Chief of the Blue Saber Gang is dead. Those who wish to live, seek your own survival!
…….
……?!
……!!
The movements of the warriors who saw Jang Sun-won’s death with disbelieving eyes began slowing down.
The warriors of the Blue Saber Gang were facing the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake, so they could not even dare approach me.
“Kill him! If we kill that bastard, we win! We can enter the Murim Academy!”
Jong Seo-gang pointed at me and shouted, but there was no one who could move rashly.
I immediately stepped with Unrivaled under Heaven Movement Art and appeared before Jong Seo-gang’s eyes in an instant.
“Hup! What kind of movement arts are…… keuheok!”
And I thrust the Black Dragon Sword straight into him.
“What is this…….”
Jong Seo-gang’s eyes could not believe it even as he looked at the Black Dragon Sword that had pierced into his chest.
Srrrk.
As his body tilted, the sword buried inside him slid out.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
The warriors of the Yellow Sword Sect, who had been facing the One-Horned Black Toad, stared blankly with devastated expressions.
“Now the Yellow Sword Sect has no one left to enter the Murim Academy either. Will you continue?”
I spoke while looking at Gam Cheol-jin, the true power of the Yellow Sword Sect.
“…….”
“If you continue, every warrior of the Yellow Sword Sect will have to bury his bones here. As you saw earlier, our Taeul Sect is not affected by those Spiritual Creatures.”
“…….”
Gam Cheol-jin looked around.
Nearly fifty warriors were dead.
Even so, only about thirty remained. The remaining twenty had become Lonely Ghosts without even leaving corpses behind.
In a situation where even if everyone joined together as one, they might or might not succeed in the hunt, if they continued to receive Taeul Sect’s attacks, they would ultimately have no choice but to bury all their bones here.
“We return.”
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
No one objected to Gam Cheol-jin’s decision. Rather, their faces said they were relieved to be able to return.
“You thought well.”
“……Thank you for preserving the lives of the warriors.”
“You are the one who saved those warriors’ lives.”
“Everyone, withdraw! We are going back!”
As soon as Gam Cheol-jin finished speaking, the warriors of the Yellow Sword Sect began retreating while pouring out Palm Force.
And once the Yellow Sword Sect withdrew, the One-Horned Black Toad began moving toward the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake again, and at that, the warriors of the Blue Saber Gang could no longer endure and had no choice but to withdraw.
“I will give you one quarter of an hour from now! I will take anyone who remains here as having decided to fight to the end!”
“What are we supposed to do about the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake and the One-Horned Black Toad?”
“I will stop them.”
“?”
I immediately leapt above the heads of the two Spiritual Creatures and blasted out Ten Thousand Transformations Invincible Fist.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
The creatures, which had not budged even with their massive bodies, could not move, as though buried beneath a giant pile of rocks.
“What kind of…… nonsense is this?”
“What kind of martial arts is a Taeul Sect warrior using?”
The warriors stared blankly, forgetting even to flee.
I filled my voice with inner arts again and thundered,
-I said one quarter of an hour!
Then the warriors’ eyes snapped open as though they had been struck by lightning, and regardless of sect, they began carrying all the corpses they could see in every direction and sprinting down the mountain.
***
Should he be happy about this or not?
Watching the enemies who had constricted them from every direction like a dense net and squeezed their breaths flee like mice that had met a cat, Eun-ho felt complicated.
‘No, if they leave like that, how are we supposed to catch those monsters?’
Whether they were two-hundred-year-old Spiritual Creatures or three-hundred-year-old Spiritual Creatures, they were beings a warrior might be satisfied to encounter once in his entire life, but even that only became a treasure to someone of that level. To someone like Eun-ho, who had not yet even reached his coming-of-age, they were nothing more than monsters that ate people.
“Senior Brother can catch them somehow. That must be why everyone retreated.”
At Eun-ho’s worry, Geum-pyo spoke calmly as though Eun-ho was worrying about the strangest things.
“……Hoo.”
Dong-ryong merely looked refreshed as he shook the blood off his sword.
At that moment, Jin So-un stopped facing the two monsters, kicked off the air, and landed beside the three Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers.
“Uh?”
“Oh!”
“……!”
Naturally, the eyes of the three Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers widened.
“What are you doing coming over here all of a sudden?”
Eun-ho asked that without realizing it because of his anxiety.
“…….”
Jin So-un looked at him with narrowed eyes. Realizing his mistake, Eun-ho quickly continued.
“Senior Brother, you sent the people away because you have a way to catch them, right?”
Jin So-un shook the fluid off the Black Dragon Sword and raised an eyebrow as though asking what he was talking about.
That expression made Eun-ho and Geum-pyo feel deeply uneasy.
“I am not one of the Ten Greatest Masters under Heaven. How would I catch those things?”
That was right. It was true.
Eun-ho did not know where the end of Eldest Senior Brother’s martial arts lay, but catching Spiritual Creatures that had lived for hundreds of years was another matter.
……But was this really the time to say that?
“Then you sent everyone away without being able to catch them?”
At the very least, if he was not confident about catching them, they should cooperate and…… ah, of course, imagining cooperating with them was difficult.
“Then are you saying we should just leave them alone and go?”
“Why catch something that we don’t need to catch in the first place?”
“Pardon?”
Thinking that he might have failed to understand something, Eun-ho looked at Geum-pyo, but Geum-pyo was busy trying to wipe the bloodstains from his clothes, and Dong-ryong was staring at the Spiritual Creatures with his mouth hanging open.
It was clear that he was not the only one who did not understand.
These idiots had merely stopped thinking.
“There is no need to catch them. From now on, unfold Ghost-Breathing Step again.”
“…….”
When Jin So-un began unfolding Ghost-Breathing Step, even though he was clearly before their eyes, no presence could be felt from him.
On the other hand, Geum-pyo and Dong-ryong’s Ghost-Breathing Step still definitely revealed a slight presence.
“It is a fight between a snake that is the natural enemy of toads and a horned toad that lives by eating such snakes. There is no need for us to interfere.”
“What does that…….”
“Watch carefully.”
Once the presence of Jin So-un’s group disappeared, the two monsters, which had been violently searching for people, looked around in confusion.
Then, once they realized that all the people had vanished, they displayed Fighting Spirit toward each other.
Kyaaaaaaah.
Grrrrrrrrk.
The fight between the two Spiritual Creatures began in an instant.
The Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake tried to coil around the One-Horned Black Toad’s body, while the One-Horned Black Toad leapt with its massive body and charged at the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake with the horn on its head.
Kyaaaaaaah.
The flesh of the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake, which ordinary swords could not even scratch, caved in deeply, and the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake screamed in every direction.
Its high-pitched cry stabbed their eardrums.
“Are you saying we only need to deal with the one that wins after those two fight? But even that does not look easy.”
Even if one of them died, what method could they possibly have to face the remaining one?
“There is no need to do that either.”
The fight intensified.
When the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake poured venom everywhere, the One-Horned Black Toad trembled as though paralyzed by the venom.
In that gap, the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake opened its giant mouth and swallowed the One-Horned Black Toad in one bite.
“Uh! If that happens, the Inner Core…….”
“It is not over yet.”
The Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake swallowed the One-Horned Black Toad in one bite.
With its throat bulging out, the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake tried to absorb it in an instant.
Crack. Squelch.
A horn suddenly grew out of the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake’s head.
The thought, ‘Oh! After eating the One-Horned Black Toad, is it now becoming the One-Horned Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake?’ uselessly flashed through Eun-ho’s head.
At that moment, blood spouted like a fountain between the horns, and the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake laid down its massive body.
Thud.
Grrrrk. Grrrrk.
After pulling its horn out of the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake’s head, the One-Horned Black Toad barely crawled out, its skin melted in various places.
“See? I told you there was no need to fight.”
Eldest Senior Brother, who had at some point moved above the One-Horned Black Toad’s head, drove the Black Dragon Sword deep into the One-Horned Black Toad’s eye.
Ggk.
The One-Horned Black Toad died without even being able to resist properly.
Eun-ho asked in stunned disbelief,
“Senior Brother, did you enter Mount Makgan knowing from the beginning that pursuers would follow us?”
“We had to pass the Second Trial anyway, did we not? And we have no money. So we received a little ‘help’ from others.”
“……Help?”
While Eun-ho stood there blankly,
Jin So-un spoke to Geum-pyo and Dong-ryong.
“Now can you trust this senior brother a little?”
“Senior Brother! This Geum-pyo has never once doubted you since the day I was born.”
“Eldest Senior Brother! I would believe you even if you said you were making soybean paste with red beans!”
“…….”
As Geum-pyo and Dong-ryong, intoxicated with the joy of victory, cheered wildly,
Eun-ho could not properly join in because of an inexplicable uneasiness.
Was this right?
No matter how much he thought about it, he could not easily accept it.
‘I don’t think this was the intention behind the Murim Academy’s exam.’
According to Eldest Senior Brother, the Murim Academy was still an educational institution in its own way, so they could not openly write, ‘We would like rich bastards to enter.’ That was why they had made the exam like this.
How flustered would the academy be if someone solved a problem that had been designed not to be solved in the first place?
‘Is this really all right?’
Geum-pyo and Dong-ryong now seemed to be trying to toss Eldest Senior Brother into the air together, but lacking strength, they were looking at him.
Eun-ho let out a small sigh and stopped thinking.
***
“To be honest, I don’t know what to do.”
Yang Gun-baek looked at the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake and the One-Horned Black Toad with a devastated expression.
The Messenger Hawk that should originally have come could not approach because of the killing intent of the Heavenly Net and Earthly Snare, so Yang Gun-baek, who had become worried, had ultimately moved personally.
For me, there happened to be something I had to take care of, so I was glad he had come, but his face did not look very comfortable.
“What is the matter?”
“If I submit this as a report as it is, they will definitely suspect me of lying.”
“……Ha, ha. Is that so?”
Yang Gun-baek let out a long sigh. Then he quickly recovered his complexion.
“I am truly relieved. I was worried. Yet you even produced such excellent results.”
“It is thanks to you worrying about us.”
“Did you receive the Second Trial Tokens?”
After catching the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake and the One-Horned Black Toad and cutting open their bellies to take out their Inner Cores, a Murim Alliance examiner and warriors appeared from somewhere.
“They handled each one as Three Cycles.”
“That is truly incredible.”
Yang Gun-baek stared blankly at the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake and the One-Horned Black Toad, then suddenly raised his eyes and said,
“Then…… what have you decided to do with these creatures’ corpses? Have you decided to hand them over to the Murim Alliance?”
Since the Murim Alliance normally dealt in the corpses and Inner Cores of Spiritual Creatures as well, the examiner had happened to ask the same question.
“I have a better friend. Is there any need to use them?”
When I spoke with a meaningful smile, Yang Gun-baek’s mouth opened so wide it seemed it would split.
“I will absolutely…… absolutely handle them without leaving you any regrets.”
“Then while you are at it, please take care of these as well.”
I handed the Inner Cores of the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake and the One-Horned Black Toad to Yang Gun-baek.
His eyes widened.
“Please sell those two and obtain three suitable Spiritual Medicines.”
“……Young Master So-un. Of course, that is possible, but rather than selling these and buying something else, would it not be better for you to take them directly?”
“That is true, but the boys’ inner arts are still around ten years.”
“Ah…….”
I spoke while looking at the Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers, who were joking with one another.
The Inner Cores of the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake and the One-Horned Black Toad contained Poisonous Qi.
If someone had sufficient inner arts, even that Poisonous Qi could be converted into inner arts, but the Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers would be poisoned before they could even dissolve the Inner Cores.
“Please also handle the carcasses of the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake and the One-Horned Black Toad, and add everything to buying Spiritual Medicines.”
“Yes. I will obtain the Spiritual Medicines before disposing of the Spiritual Creatures.”
At Yang Gun-baek’s words, my head tilted in puzzlement.
“That would be good for me, but you don’t need to strain yourself that far…….”
Obtaining the Spiritual Medicines before disposing of the goods meant he would use his own money or his sect’s money first.
In that case, would he not be unable to pass on the increase in incidental costs, such as the processing cost and storage cost for the Spiritual Creatures’ carcasses?
If, by any chance, the goods could not be sold in the market, the period during which the money was tied up might grow longer as well.
I could not understand Yang Gun-baek’s intention to bear a loss he did not have to bear.
“…….”
Yang Gun-baek, who seemed about to say something regarding that, moved his lips several times before finally speaking.
“I don’t know how to tell you this, as I may throw cold water on this good atmosphere.”
“Did something happen?”
“Young Master So-un, you have no time right now.”
“What does that…… Even if we were late for the First Trial, we should be rather early for the Second Trial.”
“Wudang Sect, Mount Hua Sect, and Diancang Sect have begun moving.”
“……?”
“Toward Young Master So-un, I mean.”