Chapter 316 - The Cutting Winds of Late Winter (4)

Truthfully, at this point, even if the instructors and drill instructors were replaced, it did not mean much to me.

It was not as if grades that had been highly evaluated would suddenly plunge to the bottom just because the relative evaluation standards changed to absolute evaluation.

Moreover, the place I wanted to go was the White Wolf Pavilion.

It was not the Azure Dragon Pavilion or Red Dragon Pavilion that everyone wanted, so as long as I was not undervalued so badly that I got sent off to a branch, there would be no major problem.

“What is so amusing?”

His voice dripped with coldness.

I did not want to make trouble for no reason, so I lightly bowed my head.

“I apologize.”

But the instructor asked again, his stare boring into me.

“I asked what was so amusing.”

At this point, I had tried not to care, because it did not matter what they did.

But...

“I asked what was so amusing. Are you not going to answer?”

When he was doing this so openly, how was I supposed to keep from laughing?

I raised my slightly lowered head again.

“I was amused because, for some reason, you seem to be trying very hard to devalue this entire cohort.”

“What?”

“It is true that the previous cohort received a great deal of attention because of Yong So-ah, but even so, I cannot accept that our current cohort is somehow inferior to our seniors’.”

It was true that we drew noticeably less attention than the previous cohort.

After all, the previous cohort had been full of people who had made names for themselves even before entering the academy.

But this cohort, too, had plenty of people, including Ilgak, who would later make names for themselves in the Orthodox-Demonic Great War, and yet he said our level was low?

When I answered confidently, the instructor’s face twisted.

“You do not know the reason?”

Then his head tilted crookedly.

“You truly do not know?”

“I do not.”

He had been annoyingly asking the same thing since earlier...

“It is because of you.”

Huh? What kind of bullshit is this now?

“Because you seized the representative position through cunning means, the overall level of the academy fell.”

The bullshit was so absurd that I was left speechless.

But did the instructor think I was too cowed to argue back?

He continued with a triumphant smile.

“Because the academy representative is of such low quality, the level of the lectures has dropped drastically as well, and in the end, this will inflict a serious blow on the entire Murim Alliance.”

As though every original sin lay with me.

As though I were someone who would steal what belonged to them.

“Since the Murim Academy first opened, there has never been a cohort as trash as this one.”

He looked at me once.

“When I see the pathetic sight of them struggling against a mere disciple from a Third-Rate sect, I get so furious I cannot sleep.”

Then he looked at the academy students from the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Noble Clans with contempt.

And his gaze turned back to me.

I could feel his will to trample me down somehow before I grew any further.

“Well, I suppose it is also because you are quite the cunning bastard. I hear this time you destroyed the Jeondeung Sect by falsely accusing them of sorcery?”

To think he would use the word “falsely” when even the Disciplinary Pavilion had already moved.

No matter what I said, he did not seem willing to listen.

The Taiyi Sect getting looked down on was nothing new.

Well, in truth, it was a weak sect. That much could not be helped.

“What the hell have you been saying since earlier?”

“... Huh?”

But when he was throwing around criticism and mockery this mindlessly, I could only think that he had crossed the line.

And for a bastard who crossed the line...

“Oh, are you perhaps from the Qingcheng Sect and learned sorcery?”

“What?”

A mindless attack was the best solution.

* * *

“You... crazy bastard!”

“Are you not?”

“What kind of nonsense are you spouting...!”

“Why are you getting so worked up? Ah, is it true you learned sorcery? Is it true you belong to the Qingcheng Sect? Do your eyeballs perhaps turn black?”

“...!”

Seeing him get excessively agitated when I pressed him, I guessed he really was from the Qingcheng Sect.

If he had been from some other sect, he would not have gotten this worked up in the first place.

“Is it that hard to say, ‘No’? Well, I suppose people always give themselves away when they lie.”

“... Do you know what you are saying right now?”

“Did I say anything wrong?”

“You are falsely accusing me with lies right now...! Do you think this is something that can be let slide?”

I deliberately burst into a hearty laugh.

“Did you not also incite people with lies, Instructor? So does what I said count as a crime?”

“When did I...!”

“You said this was the worst cohort in history. Are you certain of that?”

I turned my head and examined the faces of the academy students.

Most of the academy students did not look pleased.

Even those who hated me would not want to be looked down on themselves, so perhaps it was an entirely natural reaction.

The atmosphere naturally shifted to my side.

I deliberately kept my eyes on the academy students as I spoke.

“Instructor, you denied everything that everyone sitting here has worked for during all this time. And yet you say I am committing a great crime by lying?”

“That is...”

“Does the mere fact that I am the representative serve as proof that this cohort is the worst? Ah, for reference, I defeated Ilgak in a sparring match.”

In that instant, the academy students’ gazes gathered on Ilgak.

For some reason, Ilgak’s smooth head flushed red.

The instructor said through gritted teeth.

“That, too, must have been because you hid the fact that you were receiving secret training from the Academy Director.”

“Oh? Are you saying a martial artist should reveal every martial art he has learned? Is that how the Qingcheng Sect teaches?”

“...”

“Then please tell us all the martial arts you have learned so far, Instructor. And your final trump card for killing an enemy as well.”

“...”

Of course he could not say it.

There was a saying in the Jianghu that one should always hide thirty percent of one’s true ability.

The lunatics even said to hide seventy percent.

And yet he was trying to sell me that nonsense?

I gave a small shrug.

“What you said, Instructor, was nothing but bullshit.”

“...!”

Both the instructor and the academy students’ eyes grew twice as wide.

They probably thought that, no matter what, this crossed the line.

I knew that too, but I deliberately crossed it.

Because that was the only way this bastard would truly get furious.

“You probably replaced the instructors and drill instructors for some other reason, then shifted the blame onto the academy students, did you not? That is why you keep squealing that bullshit.”

GRIND.

Oh my, how frightening. He might grind all his teeth down.

But if he thought that would stop my tongue, he was sorely mistaken.

“And that other reason is probably...”

I turned my head again and looked at the academy students.

Especially at those from the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Noble Clans.

“Because you are scared your stupid juniors will fail to catch up to you. Because you are afraid that, once the grades get tangled up, people other than those from the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Noble Clans might take the important positions.”

“...!”

Not only the instructor, but the academy students’ faces flushed bright red as well.

Here and there were people looking at me with hostile eyes.

But what of it?

You bastards hated me anyway.

If you were going to keep pouring filth onto my path, you should have been prepared for filth to splash onto yours too.

“The Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Noble Clans must have it nice. Even if you get mediocre grades at the academy, your seniors come down from above like this and work so hard to pull you along.”

I looked at them and lifted the corners of my mouth pleasantly.

“What a truly fair and righteous Murim Alliance.”

Just as the members of the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Noble Clans showed hostility toward the others, there were also those who showed hostility toward them in return.

The 108 Peaks and those without any other affiliation.

Whatever the truth was, from how the current situation looked, it was true that it appeared that way.

The gazes directed at the instructor, which had initially been full of fear, gradually changed into contempt.

Perhaps sensing that atmosphere, the instructor put on a stern face and spoke.

“... As expected, your tongue is beyond cunning.”

He tried to incite them by saying my words were false, but it was already too late.

I had already given the academy students something to think about.

Now, no matter what the instructor said, the academy students would believe what they wanted to believe.

As proof, complaints had already begun to burst out among the academy students.

“Those bastards from the Nine Sects and One Gang, I swear...”

“Do they really want to go this far?”

“No, if they are going to do this, why even bother holding the standard exam? They should just take everything among themselves.”

This was not a commotion happening simply because of what I said.

I had merely touched, ever so slightly, the sense of inferiority and the questions that had long been rooted deep inside people’s minds.

Each person would be the one to grow leaves and bear flowers.

Just like now.

“From what I have heard, there has never been a case in history where all the academy instructors were replaced at once.”

“Does this mean that even if we really become Murim Alliance members, we will end up being discriminated against just the same?”

“I heard going to the academy would not be much different after all...”

The anger over the discrimination they had suffered for a long time quickly spread to those around them.

The members of the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Noble Clans, who had been looking at me with displeasure, locked eyes in a staring contest with the other academy students glaring at them.

Those who had been watching me with the feeling of, what the hell is that lunatic doing, were now looking not at me, but at the instructor with hostile eyes.

The instructor also seemed to sense the change in the atmosphere, and shouted thunderously, his voice filled with internal energy.

“Enough! Enough!”

Those who were caught off guard flinched and covered their ears.

The gazes of those who had been hostile toward each other turned back to the instructor.

The instructor was now staring at me with a calm face.

“If what I said is so absurd... can you prove it?”

Prove it?

Prove what?

“I am asking whether you can prove it. That your skill truly deserves to be top student.”

Ah, so he had chosen a frontal breakthrough.

“The top students of the academy throughout history have at least possessed Vice Hall Leader-class skill. I... also possess Vice Hall Leader-class skill within the Murim Alliance, so prove it.”

Where did he think he was selling that lie?

I already knew from the Mantong Bureau’s records that you were Hall Leader-class.

But what did that matter?

If he wanted to throw himself into a cesspit, who was I to stop him?

SHING.

I immediately drew the Red Light Sword and raised my killing intent.

A red line appeared along the Red Light Sword, and a chilling killing intent scattered in every direction.

“Ugh...”

“What kind of...”

“What in the world...”

Even the academy students sitting in the front row of the platform seemed to have difficulty enduring it, their faces twisting.

I pointed the tip of the Red Light Sword toward the instructor.

“I will prove it. Do I just need to cut off one of your arms, Instructor?”

When I strode three steps forward, he took one step back and stretched out his hand.

Then, after his eyes briefly darted up and down.

“... As an instructor, no matter how angry I may be, I cannot draw an academy student’s blood.”

What is he talking about?

Did he have the absurd thought of drawing my blood even in this situation?

“Then how do you want me to prove it?”

“... Internal energy. Let us compete with internal energy!”

“Hmm...”

I quietly thought about why things like this kept happening.

It was not as if I had particularly hidden my strength.

Why did people keep crossing the line?

But when I thought about it again...

“Ah.”

I had never clearly revealed my strength either.

Perhaps that was why things like this kept happening.

Yes, that was it.

“Why? Are you afraid?”

Did my brief moment of thought look like hesitation?

Well, from this man’s perspective, this must feel like a fight in which he had an absolute advantage.

In a sparring match, there was room to offset a difference in level with senses or quick thinking, but internal energy spoke of the years one had lived through.

In the first place, there was probably not a single academy student who could compete in internal energy against a man who had lived as an elite.

If they were an “ordinary” academy student, that is.

I barely suppressed the corners of my mouth from curling upward and nodded.

“Let us do it, then. I just need to shatter your Dantian, do I not?”

“... No, an internal energy contest is not that kind of...”

Was there anything more certain than mocking an opponent who had become a cripple while coughing blood?

I was starting to feel tempted too.

“Let us begin.”

I sheathed the Red Light Sword and stretched both hands forward.

“...”

The instructor hesitated for a moment, then steadied his expression and clasped my hands.

His face was full of confidence.

“Go ahead and rampage as much as you like!”

The moment our hands joined and our fingers locked together.

WOOOOSH.

A massive force, like the Yangtze River, surged in through the centers of his palms.

It was quite heavy and firm, and I could see why he had likely never been pushed back by anyone in terms of internal energy.

“Heh, how is it? Above the sky, there is another sky...”

I began to draw up the Taiyi True Scripture in earnest.

And in that instant.

“...!”

The corners of the instructor’s mouth, which had been curled in a confident smile, stiffened hard.

“Hup...!”

He stopped chattering and clamped his mouth shut, and I could see him straining with all his might.

His internal energy, which had driven all the way into my Xi-Cleft Gate, slowly but relentlessly began to be pushed back.

“...!”

As though he had no room to say anything, he urgently tried to draw up more internal qi, but it was useless.

He should have picked something that could be compared in the first place.

No matter how vast the Yangtze River was, it could not be larger than the sea.

The internal qi that entered through the Xi-Cleft Gate, Crooked Pool, and Central Treasury passed through his middle Dantian in one breath, then dug in one after another through the Great Tower, Beam Gate, Celestial Pivot, Sea of Qi, and finally down to his Dantian.

His internal qi, vast as the Yangtze River, was swept up in an even greater current like the sea, lost its original mobility, and was completely suppressed.

And going even further.

SSSSSH.

I changed my energy to become hostile and wildly stirred up his acupoints.

“Guh... guh...”

Perhaps he lacked breath, because he kept inhaling roughly, but his face looked as though his thirst would not be quenched.

It did not take long for his face, which had been flushed red, to turn black.

And finally.

‘Dantian!’

I applied force to the energy wrapped around his Dantian and gradually increased the pressure.

Amid suffocating pain, fear that his Dantian might shatter would be rising inside him.

As expected, his expression was filled with horror.

“You said something about insult earlier, did you not?”

If I applied just a little more force here, I could break his Dantian.

I continued calmly.

“The one who truly insulted others was you, Instructor. Not just me, but every academy student in my cohort.”

Whether he was conscious or not, even his eyes had rolled back at some point.

Seeing him foam at the mouth like a mad dog was truly pitiful.

But I could not stop here.

“We will repay the insult we suffered in a fitting manner.”

Because if I did not show them, they would keep crossing it.

That line.

When I poured in more internal qi and constricted his Dantian, the instructor’s body began trembling.

He was truly on the verge of passing out.

Then, one desperate phrase flowed from the instructor’s mouth.

“... S-stop...”

“What was that? I cannot hear you very well.”

I slightly loosened the pressure constricting his Dantian.

Then the instructor exhaled a hot breath.

“... P-please stop...”

“Telling me to stop is not an apology.”

The instructor’s eyes flew wide open.

Since he was in pain, his head seemed to work quickly.

After hesitating for a moment, he barely managed to speak.

“I... I ask your forgiveness.”

Ha, this bastard still had not come to his senses.

When I once again pressed down on his Dantian and raised the pressure.

“Kuhak...!”

At last, the instructor began to spew bloody foam.

I slightly twisted my body so the bloody foam would not splash onto me, and deliberately asked loudly enough for those around us to hear.

“Hmm, I cannot quite hear what you are saying.”

“... Please forgive me. I-I was wrong.”

The instructor begged earnestly, his eyes brimming as though he might burst into tears at any moment.

I released the pressure constricting his Dantian and withdrew all my internal qi.

“Ugh!”

Since I moved a little roughly on the way out, the instructor ended up vomiting blood on the spot and fainting.

BLEEAGH!

I took a step back and avoided the instructor’s blood.

“Tsk. There is no way we are getting class today.”

While I returned to my seat, gathered my belongings, and walked down from the platform.

“...”

“...”

Not even the sound of breathing could be heard inside the lecture hall.

Good grief, I have no idea why the mood is like this as soon as the new term starts.