Chapter 322 - Black Forest (2)

"This... Please give me this one."

I looked at the thin martial robes Seong Moran had picked up and said,

"Cloth that thin will be pierced by venomous insects' fangs in no time."

"..."

Seong Moran's trembling hand soon picked up the stiff, thick martial robes beside it.

They would not be much use in cold weather since they had no cotton padding, but they should be effective at stopping the fangs of insects and poisonous creatures.

"T-Ten sets of this... No, twenty sets, please."

I frowned.

"Are you ordering uniforms for a whole group?"

"No... But we have to endure a whole month. One set a day should..."

"When we enter the Black Forest in the first place, one light bundle is the limit. That is what the training is for."

Seong Moran's eyes, which had looked ready to burst into tears at any moment, turned fierce.

"But are you really sure?! Are you really sure we are going to the Black Forest?!"

"Can you not tell by looking?"

I pointed to the academy students in the draper's shop.

Centered around the disciples of the Nine Sects and One Gang, most of those choosing goods were picking clothes made of the same thick cloth Seong Moran had selected.

"... Ah."

Seong Moran staggered briefly as if dizzy.

"It makes no sense... Why... Why..."

She tried her fill of fleeing from the cold reality right before her eyes, but what had been decided would not change.

"I-Is there absolutely... no chance it could change?"

She tried to hold on to a shred of hope, but there was still hardly any chance.

'Even if they had originally planned to go somewhere else, they would have chosen the Black Forest in the end.'

Unlike the Flame Desert or the Ice Sea, where one only had to endure for a month, the Black Forest allowed one to earn additional points.

For the past semester, the instructors had thrown themselves into all kinds of frantic efforts, but in the end only the rankings in the middle had changed, while the very top and very bottom remained largely the same.

I was one such example. I, who had originally maintained the top score, ended up in overall second place in the first semester evaluation by the narrowest of margins.

The one who took first place instead of me was...

"Benefactor Jin, would shoes this thick be best as well?"

...that filthy bald bastard.

"Why are you asking me that? Go ask the instructors who dote on you, Monk Ilgak."

"... B-Benefactor Jin. I told you that was never my intention."

Because of that situation, there was no better place than the Black Forest as the site of the Great Journey, the only chance to overturn the rankings at the very end.

On top of that, it was perfect for the instructors to secretly help the academy students.

'But it is strange. For all that they even replaced the instructors, they have not been that blatant about it.'

They exerted influence over the Education Pavilion and replaced the instructors and drill instructors wholesale.

But considering that, should I say the discrimination had not been that severe?

Of course, I had threatened them, but no matter how I looked at it, was it not strange for the mighty Nine Sects and One Gang to bow their heads over something like that?

'... Of course, I would not have sat still either.'

If they had really been too blatant, I had been prepared to make an example of someone.

When looking at all of them as a whole, even if I made a move, I would not be a major threat.

But at the very least, it would reduce the number of individual instructors who stepped forward and made a fuss about teaching me and the Taiyi Sect a lesson.

In any case, thanks to that, the grades of the representatives had not fallen much either.

The same went for the Taiyi Sect disciples.

The special training probably had an effect too.

Their condition was certainly changing day by day.

'But what the hell is Eunho doing?'

If I had to choose what had changed the most since last semester, it would be that Dongryong had suddenly grown taller and that Eunho had become a complete homebody.

To be precise, he hardly came out of the dormitory.

He showed up without fail for academy classes and the special training sessions I set, but outside of that, he shut himself in the dormitory and refused to see anyone.

From what I heard, he borrowed heaps of books from Manseogo every time and read them all day long...

I had no idea why he had suddenly become like that when he was not going to take the metropolitan or provincial civil service exams.

I could have understood it if he had been like that since he was young, but that was not the case either. Hmm...

'Damn bastard. If only he had been like that from the start. Then he would have been the one helping with the External Hall's work.'

In any case, at this rate, no matter how much the rankings changed during the final Great Journey, there should be no chance of the Taiyi Sect disciples falling all the way to a branch.

And that was not all. If anything, there were many good points.

First, if we went to the Black Forest, we could raise our natural poison resistance.

'It is practically a natural poison storehouse.'

Poison and hidden weapons were the two things one had to be most careful of while living in Jianghu.

One could prepare against hidden weapons through training, but there was no particular way to train against poison.

Unless one carried every antidote in existence, one had no choice but to build resistance, and the best way to build resistance was to practice neutralizing weak poisons little by little.

Did that not sound like a practice that would cost a great deal of money just from hearing about it?

So this was something only the Sichuan Tang Clan or the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect could do, not a practice an ordinary martial artist could access.

But.

If you went to the Black Forest, it was free.

A loose smile slipped out before I knew it.

'Well, my life would be the collateral... but it is still within a manageable level.'

Seong Moran was looking at me strangely from beside me, so I hurriedly schooled my expression.

Second, there was a chance of obtaining spiritual pills.

Because of the hot energy all year round and the flow of a vast spiritual vein, even ordinary living creatures in the Black Forest had a high chance of becoming spiritual beasts.

There were reasons like this behind the instructors choosing this place as a site where the rankings could be overturned at the end.

Unlike the Flame Desert or the Ice Sea, where one only endured, catching demonic beasts or spiritual beasts in the Black Forest earned additional points.

Compared with these various advantages, the drawbacks of the hot and humid climate or the countless insects became unimportant.

Just then, Jang Ujae was choosing shoes with a grave expression, so I approached him.

"The ones on the right are a little better. They are stiff, but if you break them in beforehand, they will protect your ankles perfectly."

"Hm? Representative."

"And there is something I want to ask you..."

"Yes, please ask."

I took Pungryeong from my robes, showed it to Jang Ujae, and asked,

"This stops insects too, right?"

"... Not all of them, but it tends to stop the small ones."

"Really? That is excellent news!"

When I patted Jang Ujae hard on the shoulder, he somehow could not take his sad eyes off my neck.

A week later, the Academic Affairs Department announced the site of the Great Journey.

The Black Forest.

As expected, there was no great change.

"AAAAAAH! This makes no sense!!!!"

Seong Moran broke down in despair, even shedding tears.

#

The Black Forest.

A vast jungle at the edge of Yunnan Province where humans cannot enter.

In the jungle formed within a huge basin twenty times the size of a typical city, countless insects and animals beyond human imagination lived, and as numerous as they were, venomous insects and poisonous creatures that threatened humans filled the place.

Thanks to the hot weather all year round, the living creatures of the Black Forest escaped the deadly threat of cold, lived far beyond their average lifespans, and in the process, sometimes transformed into spiritual beasts under the influence of the spiritual vein.

Martial artists would roast and eat even cow dung if someone called it a spiritual beast, but this Black Forest was not a place one could enter recklessly.

To begin with, the vast spiritual vein influenced not only the living creatures of the jungle, but also the terrain and features, and further still, people.

Every tool that could measure direction was rendered useless, and the terrain and natural features created natural arrays that made those who entered keep circling the same place.

Furthermore, because there were also fixed exits through which one could leave the basin, the chances of those who lost their direction returning alive became extremely low.

On top of that, though spiritual beasts appeared often, there were far more creatures that had grown into demonic beasts in the overabundant environment, so actual spiritual pills were rarely found.

There were countless cases where even experienced mountain men or herb gatherers entered recklessly and never returned.

And because far too many martial artists who entered to become stronger severed all ties with the secular world, the Murim Alliance designated this place a forbidden zone and separated it from the world.

"Haa... I feel like I am going to die from the heat already."

The academy students, who had passed through Kunming in Yunnan Province and arrived in Jinghong, were all having trouble adjusting to the changing temperature.

Because the sunlight blazing hot enough to burn the skin, along with the suffocatingly humid air, was affecting even their breathing.

"Lady Seong, I think it would be best to lower the robes you have rolled up. There are many venomous insects around here as well."

At the words of the bare-chested giant, Seong Moran frowned.

"Is that really something you should be saying, Great Warrior Yang?"

The one who burst into hearty laughter at Seong Moran's words was Yang Japyeong of the Southern Fist Sect.

"We of the Southern Fist Sect usually train our external arts alongside our other training. To pass in and out of the jungle, no matter how tremendous one's internal energy is, it alone is not enough."

"Hee, do people of the Southern Fist Sect come and go from the Black Forest often?"

When Seong Moran asked as if fascinated, Yang Japyeong nodded.

"If we do not regularly keep track of it, we never know when a demonic beast might leap out of the Black Forest."

The Southern Fist Sect was the sect that had received delegated authority from the Murim Alliance to manage the Black Forest.

It was a sect that held one axis of the 108 Peaks and possessed influence within the top five in Yunnan Province.

That Southern Fist Sect was guiding this Great Journey.

"Still, please do not worry too much. On the contrary, they say that those who come here once wish to visit again because of the scenery that cannot be easily seen."

"Ugh... No matter how beautiful it is, I do not think I would want to come again."

"Ha ha. Trust me. Most of those who wanted to return were young heroines."

"... Really?"

At the words that it was popular with women, Seong Moran's ears perked up.

Yang Japyeong took his eyes off Seong Moran and looked over the faces of our party as if intrigued.

"Still, it is rare for academy students to stand at the very front like this. The instructors must favor you greatly."

At Yang Japyeong's words, we smiled bitterly in silence.

In truth, this had happened because we were in the opposite position.

"Once we climb the mountain, the heat will ease a little. Please endure a bit longer."

"We have to climb a mountain too?"

"The Black Forest is so vast that it is not well known, but strictly speaking, it is formed as a basin. The people of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect said this was a giant gu-poison vessel created by nature."

When talk of insects and poison came up, Seong Moran's complexion turned pale once again.

Even so, her steps did not stop.

Our procession, made entirely of martial artists, climbed the mountain at a speed ordinary people could not imagine.

When we reached the summit and began to descend a little, I could understand to some extent what Yang Japyeong had meant.

"Wow... What kind of scenery is this...?"

Clouds floated above an endlessly stretching, vast jungle.

Because the light shining between the clouds illuminated the Black Forest, the scenery looked like a single painting.

Yang Japyeong shrugged.

"This much is nothing. The true beauty is down below."

As the vanguard group, we were the first to descend the mountain and enter the Black Forest.

For now, our mission was to find a place suitable for camping before the main force arrived, clear the surroundings, and confirm there was no danger.

"There should be a place used by past classes of the academy. If we remove some weeds and trees, it should not be difficult to stay there for one night."

Just as Yang Japyeong said, when we reached the entrance of the Black Forest, an area that had been flattened to some degree appeared.

"They used this place?"

It was an area where the density of vegetation was noticeably lower than in the rest of the jungle.

"It was three classes ago, so about twelve years ago."

"... Considering that, the trees have grown far too large."

As Seong Moran said, the thickness of the sparsely grown trees did look unusual.

"If you consider the traits of the Black Forest, it is not that unreasonable. There is no winter here, and no human hands touch it."

Yang Japyeong added with a stern expression,

"It is a beautiful place, but it is definitely just as dangerous. You must absolutely not move according to the common sense that worked in Jianghu."

"... I-Is that so?"

At Yang Japyeong's words, Seong Moran's face turned pale again.

"Most snakes possess venom. Furthermore, they are extremely skilled at hiding themselves, so you must always carefully watch your surroundings."

When Seong Moran nodded vigorously several times, Yang Japyeong smiled with satisfaction.

At that moment.

SLITHER.

Something wriggling down from the tree Yang Japyeong had pointed to tried to bite Yang Japyeong's neck like a bolt of lightning.

SWISH.

I shot out the Flying Dragon Claw.

"Hrk!"

"AAAAAAH!"

Seong Moran and Yang Japyeong collapsed to the ground in fright.

Yang Japyeong hurriedly checked his own neck, but when he realized the snake had not bitten him, he let out a small sigh of relief.

I looked at the snake bound by the Flying Dragon Claw and pinned at my feet, then asked Yang Japyeong,

"Is this thing venomous?"

"...!"

Yang Japyeong turned his head, saw the snake caught at my feet, and asked back blankly,

"Y-You caught that just now?"

What is this? Why is he making that face?

"Yes."

"How on earth d-did you distinguish it?"

How did I distinguish it?

"I could just see it."

"..."

"So, is this thing venomous?"

I looked at the snake, smacked my lips, and asked Yang Japyeong again.

"Would it happen to have any spiritual elixir in it too?"

How frustrating. Answer me already.

Why do you think I obediently accepted being in the vanguard group?