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“The Martial Righteous Alliance has announced that the Blood Heavens Divine Cult has been revived.”

I wore a blank expression for a moment.

Jin would think I felt like I’d been hit hard, but that wasn’t the case.

I had already experienced an attempt to remove the fatal restriction on the Undying Demon Spirit Person.

To be precise, it wasn’t the revival of the Blood Heavens Divine Cult, but a conspiracy by a new force using the name of the Blood Heavens Divine Cult.

The Blood Heavens Divine Cult cannot be revived. They all died by my hand.

The reason I was lost in thought for a moment was because numerous memories of the Blood Heavens Divine Cult came to mind. The long fight with them, that grueling final blood battle with the Demonic Cult Leader.

“So they’re recruiting a large number of new martial artists from each organization of the Martial Righteous Alliance in the coming March. In a few days, this news will spread throughout the Central Plains.”

March is two months from now.

How should I interpret this event? Is this Ma Bong-gi’s intention? Or the intention of those behind him?

This was information that couldn’t be known without having a spy deep within the Martial Righteous Alliance. I hadn’t yet deployed spies into the Martial Righteous Alliance. Although Jin and Su said they were confident, I thought it was still premature.

I was still thirsty for information, and I knew the solution.

***

I visited Baek Pyo after a long time.

He was in the middle of hellish training with the Dark Panther Squad, rolling together in the snow. Compared to their training, the Small Sword Squad’s training could be considered light warm-up exercises. The Dark Panther Squad’s training was brutal and dangerous.

Their eyes had completely changed from when I came before.

“Have you moved past being cats now?”

At my question, they answered loudly.

“Yes, sir!”

I called out the man who had faced me before.

Now he drew his sword and charged without a word.

Shiiik.

He was faster and more precise than before. I could clearly feel the fruits of his training.

Whirlik.

Even as he spun in the air against his will and crashed into the ground, his gaze never left me.

Thud.

The outcome was the same, but this time he was aware of what was happening to him.

When I extended my hand, he grasped it and stood up.

Looking at him, I smiled and said,

“You’re still a cat. But you’ve become a fiercer cat than last time.”

The man’s expression was dejected, but soon he showed his determination not to be taken down so easily next time.

As I was about to turn back with Baek Pyo, the man asked,

“That technique just now, what martial art is it?”

The other Dark Panther Squad martial artists also looked at me with the same question in their eyes.

I tapped the sword at my waist and said,

“I’m a swordsman.”

The man, and everyone else, was shocked. They seemed to have thought that my main skill was barehand techniques and that I carried a sword just to deceive opponents. Well, it’s understandable given how high-level my Immortal Crane Secret Art is.

“Someday, try to draw the sword from me.”

Everyone looked at each other with surprised and bewildered expressions.

Leaving them behind, I walked side by side with Baek Pyo.

“How is it?”

“It’s very good.”

Rather, Baek Pyo’s aura was the sharpest. It must take an enormous amount of mental energy to make them reborn anew. At the same time, Baek Pyo himself was also being reborn, like a sword being sharpened on a whetstone.

“Be careful not to wear yourself out.”

“Thank you for your concern.”

I revealed to Baek Pyo the reason for my visit.

I told him about the fact Jin had reported. That the Blood Heavens Divine Cult was trying to revive, and that the Martial Righteous Alliance was recruiting people in preparation for it.

“The revival of the Blood Heavens Divine Cult? It’s hard to believe.”

Having spent a lot of time with me, he knew. That it would be really difficult for them to revive.

“Moreover, it hasn’t even been thirty years since they were destroyed, has it?”

“I think so too.”

“What could be their scheme?”

“While hearing this report, I decided that we need one person.”

“Who?”

“The person you mentioned.”

Baek Pyo said with a pleased expression.

“Military Officer Gal, right?”

“That’s right.”

“You’ve thought well. To achieve our grand mission, we definitely need Military Officer Gal.”

Originally, I had planned to bring him in a bit later. But the unfolding situation was not ordinary. I decided that we needed to bring Gal Sa-ryang in before they could carry out a larger plan.

“I’ll go. If I persuade him, he might leave the Martial Righteous Alliance and come to you, my lord.”

“That’s likely.”

Just looking at how Gal Sa-ryang had entrusted the Asura Bright King Sword to Baek Pyo, one could see how deep their trust was.

But there was a reason why that shouldn’t happen.

“Don’t you have something you need to do?”

Growing the Dark Panther Squad was as important as bringing in Gal Sa-ryang. I didn’t want to break the flow of this training.

“Moreover, Gal Sa-ryang is still the former Commander-in-Chief, so they will still be watching him. It’s not advisable for you to attempt contact.”

And the decisive reason was this.

“As you know, this is a matter I need to handle personally.”

It’s about forging the bond between a lord and his subject. I thought that instead of having a matchmaker arrange it, I needed to sincerely move him to follow me.

“You’re right. Then do you have any plans?”

“I’m going to meet him.”

“What? You, Young Master? How?”

“All organizations of the Martial Righteous Alliance are recruiting new members this time. The same goes for the Righteous Thought Pavilion.”

“Are you saying you’ll enter the Righteous Thought Pavilion?”

Baek Pyo was shocked, as if he hadn’t expected this.

“That’s right. I plan to enter the Righteous Thought Pavilion and make him my man.”

Whether to extract him or leave him there, I’ll decide based on the situation at that time.

“Is that possible?”

“It won’t be easy.”

“No, I mean entering the Righteous Thought Pavilion.”

I had thought I could naturally enter.

“Is it difficult?”

“Of course it’s difficult. Even descendants of the Central Plains’ top scholarly families barely manage to enter.”

I shrugged and said,

“I’ll study hard from now on. We still have two months left.”

Baek Pyo shook his head and burst into laughter.

“Haha, you’re truly amazing.”

He might be half in doubt, but I was serious. I will enter the Righteous Thought Pavilion by any means necessary and make Gal Sa-ryang my ally.

“I will bring Military Officer Gal.”

Now it’s time to find my man.

***

“Military Officer Gal! Have you still not found that guy’s whereabouts?”

Sima Cheon’s voice rose.

“No.”

Gal Sa-ryang bowed his head deeply with a shameful face.

“The Nameless Great Master has completely disappeared from this martial world.”

“You useless fellow, is that what you call a report? You’re truly incompetent. Incompetent!”

“I’m sorry.”

It wasn’t that he hadn’t tried to find him. Gal Sa-ryang had done his best to find the Nameless Great Master. He had even mobilized his secret network to search.

But he couldn’t find any trace.

Gal Sa-ryang had three possibilities in mind. Either he was dead, he had gone into perfect hiding, or he was active under a different identity.

He thought it was most likely that he was active under a different identity. Someone who could outmaneuver Ma Ryeong-in wouldn’t have died or gone into hiding so easily. He must be preparing another big move.

“Instead, I found out one thing in the process.”

Gal Sa-ryang handed over a document with a secretive look.

“Oh ho.”

Sima Cheon’s expression softened and a smile appeared on his lips.

“This is worth investigating.”

He had investigated and reported on the corrupt individuals among the martial world’s figures.

The investigation mentioned here wasn’t just a simple investigation. It meant the process of pressuring the targets to extort privileges and money. It was about fleecing the villains to fill the pockets of an even bigger villain.

In a year, the money that went into Sima Cheon’s pocket amounted to a hundred thousand taels. He had made him earn money he had never touched in his lifetime.

Of course, Gal Sa-ryang proved that he was in the same boat by pocketing some of it for himself. If caught, they would die together.

Since it was extorting money from villains anyway, he felt no guilt, and didn’t think the method was wrong. Gal Sa-ryang didn’t care about personal honor or future consequences. After all, he planned to leave this martial world forever once he found and took revenge on those who killed Cheon Hajin.

Thanks to this, Gal Sa-ryang had escaped Sima Cheon’s surveillance. Of course, he would still be keeping an eye on him, but not with the same level of monitoring as before. Although he was rebuked for being incompetent, he had become much closer to him. Naturally, people tend to become close quickly when they share in wrongdoing. Gal Sa-ryang had put in a lot of effort to get to this point.

“You’ve heard the news, right? Our pavilion also needs to recruit new martial artists in spring. You’ll be in charge of that.”

“I understand.”

As Gal Sa-ryang was about to turn and leave, he suddenly asked as if he had just remembered something.

“By the way, where did this absurd talk about the revival of the Blood Heavens Divine Cult come from?”

The Martial Righteous Alliance had announced a fact that even the Righteous Thought Pavilion wasn’t aware of. Of course, Gal Sa-ryang knew that this was Ma Bong-gi’s announcement. He was just casually probing.

“Well…”

Sima Cheon trailed off and slightly raised his eyes. It meant the order had come down from the Alliance Leader’s Hall.

“When you mention the Demonic Cult, martial artists go into a frenzy. It’s the fastest way to rally strength.”

“Isn’t the Alliance’s power sufficient as it is?”

“The more power, the better. You don’t need to know any more than that.”

“I see. I’ll take my leave then.”

From his answer, Gal Sa-ryang could sense it. That even Sima Cheon didn’t know the inside details. Ma Bong-gi was thoroughly excluding him from very important matters.

Does this Sima Cheon really not know about the forces behind the scenes? Or is he just pretending not to know?

Although he had significantly narrowed the distance with Sima Cheon, there were still many unknowns.

***

When I looked into the entrance exam for the Righteous Thought Pavilion, it was indeed not easy.

I immediately started studying.

If I had spent most of my day training until now, I now invested most of my day in studying. Since my internal energy had reached the second level of the armor realm and I could use the fifth form, I now only did light warm-up exercises for martial arts training.

How long has it been since I last studied? Ah, had I ever studied to enter somewhere in my previous life?

Come to think of it, I hadn’t.

I asked Jin and Su to find out what kind of tests were given in the past and what I should study. It was not a matter to be taken lightly. There were dozens of basic books I had to read.

I read and read again. I read books, scrimping on sleep.

Today too, I was engrossed in studying from dawn.

As I was reading a book, I said without turning around,

“Stop peeking and come in.”

Gwang-du, who had been peeking through the door crack, came in.

He came over quietly and confirmed that the books on the desk were not martial arts manuals.

“So the rumors are true.”

“What rumors?”

“The rumors that the young master has become strange again.”

“Haha.”

Well, yesterday my mother came and felt my forehead before leaving. But one thing has changed from before. Now they don’t try to stop what I’m trying to do. They really trust me now.

“Why are you doing this?”

“There should be balance in learning too.”

“So, have you achieved balance?”

“Not yet, far from it.”

There were things I realized while studying this time. I realized that I had lived a life too focused on martial arts until now.

Of course, I had seen and heard an enormous amount during my decades as the Alliance Leader. So I thought I would naturally be able to pass the Righteous Thought Pavilion’s entrance exam.

But when I actually started studying properly, it was different from what I thought. There was a big difference between knowledge gained from casual listening and guessing, and formal study.

Just like martial arts, studying had its own world. It was definitely not something to be taken lightly.

Fortunately, my memory had developed dramatically and my mind was very clear.

I memorized diligently, over and over again. Just as in martial arts where bloody repetitive training is necessary for creative moves to emerge, in studying too, there were things that needed to be memorized. I memorized what needed to be memorized and understood what needed to be understood.

“Oh, I heard some good news. I heard you’re going on a date with Do Soon?”

“Has the news already spread?”

“Is there any secret in our Sword Squad?”

That’s how good the Sword Squad’s atmosphere was, and how close the members were.

“How did it happen?”

“One day when my heart suddenly stirred, I went to her and honestly expressed my feelings. I told her I still like her. That before, I was too immature and approached her without knowing better. To be honest, I don’t even remember what I said exactly. I was so nervous.”

“Your courage has borne fruit.”

“We haven’t agreed to date yet. We just agreed to go on an outing once.”

I gave Gwang-du ten silver taels.

“Here, buy something delicious that day.”

“No, you don’t have to. I have a lot of money.”

Gwang-du was flustered. He still gets excessively tense at times like this.

“I’m not telling you to show off. I mean, wear slightly nicer clothes, eat at a slightly better place. Show her that you’re making a lot of effort for her. If she were a woman trying to fleece men, it would be a foolish act, but Do Soon isn’t that kind of girl, right?”

“Young Master.”

Gwang-du was moved by my words.

“Don’t try to do everything at once. Go with the mindset of having fun for a day. No need to set the mood, and no need to confess your feelings again.”

“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind! I will definitely with Do Soon…”

“Don’t use the word ‘definitely’ in relationships.”

“Yes!”

Because relationships are unpredictable. Perhaps something that can’t be understood even after living a lifetime.

After Gwang-du left, I opened my book again.

I might not understand relationships, but I knew this much. That now is the time to make an effort. That while women might betray you, effort won’t betray you.