Chapter 80

At this time, she had forgotten her original purpose of testing the secret meaning and was truly trying to face her. If it was a test of the technique, it would not have mattered if she had used the secret technique from the beginning. No, rather, that would have been desirable. Wasn't it a story that had nothing to do with victory or defeat from the beginning? But when she faced the Heart Sword of the Ice Soul Phoenix, Na Ye-rin, Lee Jin-seol, although not a boy, seemed to have a competitive spirit.

Dokgo-ryeong was puzzled by Lee Jin-seol's cautious appearance, who was carefully developing her forms and inducing a weakness. A suspicion that she had thought was impossible broke through the net in her mind and emerged.

'No, that child?'

It seemed that something was not right. If one did not feel something strange in her appearance, who was carefully developing each and every form with great effort as if she were facing an unprecedentedly strong enemy, that would rather be abnormal. It was a dangerous thing where an accident could occur if one made a mistake. Once masters above a certain level cross swords, emit sword ki, and exchange forms, the aftermath of an invisible force occurs, their careers become entangled, and there are often cases where a situation arises where they cannot easily stop even if they try to stop in the middle. It was a situation that did not occur easily, but the two she knew were people who had more than enough ability to do so. Besides, the final secret technique that Lee Jin-seol was planning to show off today was the Twin Sword Two-Linked Twelve Slashes. It was by no means a mediocre technique.

Sweat was soaking her clenched white hands. She was starting to get nervous. She forgot that sweat was pooling in her palms and concentrated on watching the progress of the situation. She was thinking of jumping in without a second thought if something happened. Her thoughts were also dangerous.

'I will never be Seol-i's sword technique test bed again. Everything is my fault. To have pitted her against Ye-rin, even though I know her personality so well. I was crazy, crazy. She's not a child who will end nicely just because she seems to be losing. Besides, how could she end nicely and wash her hands of it when it's a chance she's caught?'

Dokgo-ryeong blamed herself. Even if she regretted it, it was already too late. Spilled water seeps into the soil and sand and cannot be picked up again!

She firmly resolved, 'I will never play along with a child's game again,' and forced her pounding heart to calm down.

'Please, please, please..., child. Don't forget what moderation and propriety are!'

The moment she was watching the battle situation, earnestly hoping that an unexpected unfortunate incident would not occur, a fierce sword ki once again swayed from Lee Jin-seol's twin swords and attacked Na Ye-rin. The fierceness and sharpness were such that even Dokgo-ryeong forgot the situation for a moment and was impressed. On the other hand, Na Ye-rin's evasion, exposed under Lee Jin-seol's fierce twin sword ki, was also excellent enough to receive a round of applause. With just a slight, elegant development of footwork, she had cleanly deflected Lee Jin-seol's sword ki.

But without being daunted by this, and without being intimidated, Lee Jin-seol once again drew out a series of white sword ki from her twin swords. As the sword ki emanating from Lee Jin-seol's sword became more and more sharp, Dokgo-ryeong's heart, who was watching, seemed to be burning with worry and anxiety.

Perhaps tired from her successive sharp attacks, a slight weakness was revealed in Na Ye-rin's body. Lee Jin-seol's eyes did not miss it. Now was the opportunity she had been waiting for steadily from the beginning. As if there was nothing more to see, she boldly and proudly brought out her achievement and test subject of the day. All her heart and strength!

"Twin Sword Two-Linked Twelve Slashes!"

A jade-like voice, like the sound of a clear silver bell, rang out, slightly vibrating the atmosphere.

The next moment, an amazing thing happened. Her running body was separated into two entities like a fantasy. Each separated clone attacked Na Ye-rin's left and right sides simultaneously. A total of twenty-four sword kis, twelve from each separated clone, stretched out and attacked the vital points of Na Ye-rin's entire body. All twenty-four sword kis were real! There was no falsehood, all were real attacks. It meant that not a single one could be treated lightly. The tension of Dokgo-ryeong, who was watching, also reached its peak at this moment.

The twenty-four sword kis that had stretched out dazzlingly became entangled in one place and exploded. Due to the aftermath, a cloud of dust rose up and wrapped around the two who were clashing. Dokgo-ryeong, who was in the position of a spectator, could not do this or that and just stomped her feet and waited for the result to appear. If it was to remove the cloud of dust that was obstructing her vision right now, she felt like she wanted to call for the wind even by nagging and pressuring the Wind God.

By the time Dokgo-ryeong's heart had burned black with worry and was almost left with only ashes, the cloud of dust that had covered the surroundings cleared, and the situation in the arena was revealed at a glance. Her tense shoulders also sank with relief at the same time.

"Phew, that's a relief."

Lee Jin-seol could not believe her eyes and senses. She had clearly aimed for a weakness and had executed the best secret meaning, but in no time, Na Ye-rin had dodged all of Lee Jin-seol's sword ki like a lie and had leisurely moved behind her, and was pointing her sword at the back of her neck, where she had shown a complete weakness after executing the secret technique.

"I didn't even see the movement."

"The bigger the technique, the bigger the weakness revealed when the technique fails. You need to be more cautious."

It was a quiet but heart-piercing piece of advice. Although she knew well that a big technique would reveal a big weakness after its execution, she had not thought that she would be so perfectly defeated without any room for excuse. It was a perfect defeat.

"Oh my! I lost... Hohoho!"

As if a serious face did not suit her, a cheerful smile instantly appeared on her face. The serious look of a moment ago was gone, and in its place, only a lively girl remained.

Thump!

"Oh my!"

"What's 'oh my'? You don't even know it's dangerous..."

It was Dokgo-ryeong's angry hand that had given a chestnut to her cute and small face. To have startled her heart, even dozens of chestnut-crackings would not have been enough, but when she raised her hand to hit her, she couldn't find a place to touch on her small and cute body. It was lucky for Lee Jin-seol.

"I knew it would turn out like this, but you've improved a lot."

Her praise was directed at Lee Jin-seol. Although she had made her heart pound and shrink with tension for a moment, Lee Jin-seol's growth was remarkable. She could guess without seeing how much training she had polished and refined in the time she had not seen her.

Although it was annoying that she had made her nervous, on the other hand, she was proud.

"Hehehe."

At Dokgo-ryeong's praise, Lee Jin-seol smiled broadly. Because she knew better than anyone how stingy the One-Eyed Phoenix's praise was.

"Don't just be happy. But your ki is still not concentrated on the sword path of the sword ki and is leaking out a lot. The waste of unnecessary strength and ki is proof of lack and immaturity. As proof of that, a thick cloud of dust rises. Don't be satisfied with this and strive even more."

Dokgo-ryeong, like an older sister, did not forget to give advice as well as praise.

"Of course. I haven't even reached your level, let alone surpassed you, so how can I be satisfied with just this? Don't worry."

Lee Jin-seol nodded her head clearly.

"I'd like to decline that..."

Hearing her clear answer, she could not shake off the bad premonition that her devoting herself to training even more would rather become a more annoying burden to Dokgo-ryeong herself. For a moment, she felt as if the ground she was standing on was cracking due to an invisible crack of anxiety and she was falling into the abyss of darkness, and she felt a terrible chill.

• The Ordeal of Yeomdo Begins

Meanwhile, the members of the Vermilion Bird Squad, who had recently received the fervent welcome and hot interest of the disciples
and had almost been burned upon their return to the academy,
had gathered in one place to strengthen their friendship.
The friendship and solidarity of them, who had shared life and death, joy and sorrow,
was so deep and solid that it was second to none.

They had firmly strengthened their friendship while enduring the training at Mount Emei, which was terrible just to think about, and that friendship had been further tempered by desperately overcoming the attacks of the Green Forest mountain fortresses on their way back to the academy. The friendship, which had crystallized like a diamond, was now so solid that it would not be shaken by any ordinary external shock. Now they had become the most trusted beings to each other in this Cheonmu Academy.

The atmosphere of the Vermilion Bird Squad members, who did not know at all that the incarnation of their training master, the being they loathed and feared so much, was close by, was just harmonious. If they knew that their master's news and the incarnation of his existence were breathing the same air within the same fence as them and eating rice from the same rice cooker, they would surely be so shocked that they would faint. It was as clear as looking at fire that the atmosphere would also be reversed 180 degrees and the harmonious atmosphere would turn into an atmosphere of being burned by fire.

Anyway, ignorance is bliss, and they were now excited with happiness. They were now under the serious illusion that the events at Mount Emei were just a past memory. No matter how hard and tiring it was, a past event is just a piece of memory. Now they had changed so much that they could casually bring up the events of that time and make it a topic on the tea table.

"Gungsang, do you remember that time?"

It was Hyeonun who opened his mouth, calling his friend Namgung Sang that as always. That time referred to one thing for them.

"Of course I remember. It's a memory that I can't possibly forget..."

"I remember you running up to the top of the mountain because you couldn't even chop one piece of firewood properly."

Namgung Sang smiled wryly and looked down at the black ring he was wearing on his wrist.

"At that time, this thing couldn't have been so heavy..."

"I thought my shoulder was going to fall off."

Hyeonun also agreed with Namgung Sang's sentiment. At that time, this bracelet was as heavy and difficult as a sinner's shackles, but now, even if he wore it like this, he did not feel any particular weight.

"Is this the result of training?"

Tang Cheol-yeong, who was listening to the story from the side, said, swinging his arm.

"Only after arriving at the academy and sleeping for one night could I feel that this is what happiness is. After washing off the scent of blood from my blood-covered body in a warm bath and sleeping for one night on a soft bed, when I opened my eyes with the quiet sound of a bell in the morning, I felt that this is what happiness is."

Hyeonun still seemed to be reminiscing about that time.

"That's right. I still wonder how we endured that hell."

"It's something I can't do again."

"I still have nightmares of the master suddenly visiting me."

"Hey, No Hak, that dream of yours must be a really scary nightmare. How about it, do you think you'll have that dream today too?"

"Hey, friend, don't say such things even as a joke. I don't want to have such a nightmare again."

No Hak wrapped his shoulders with both hands and shivered. Everyone burst into laughter at his joke, but they did not know that it would become a reality soon. And that ignorance was what was creating their happiness now. Sometimes, ignorance can be bliss.

"At that time, our food life was so hard that we received a lot of help from Miss Namgung."

Hyeonun said, taking a bite of a piece of apple that was neatly divided into four on the tea and snack table. At that time, it was a feast that could not be imagined. Besides, in the beginning, because of their clumsy skills, the rice and side dishes would often burn, and how hungry they had been.

"What did I do? You all suffered."

That's right. At that time, they had to get their own side dishes to eat. They had to drag their heavy feet, which were chained with shackles, and search the mountains to collect wild vegetables, and search the whole mountain to catch game. The only thing the master provided at the training camp was just rice and some spices for cooking.

"I was even thrown into the valley water when I was caught badmouthing the master while doing laundry in the valley with Tang Mun-hye here. Right?"

Danmok Susu looked at Tang Mun-hye and sought her agreement. Tang Mun-hye also nodded her head.

"Who would have guessed that he would be standing behind us, hiding his presence without a sound. He just pushed us in without any mercy."

It was a story of the Mount Emei days, where everyone had three or four painful incidents as a matter of course.

"What did we get out of it, maybe just Gungsang?"

"Why are you picking on me again?"

The Taoist, Namgung Sang, said, glaring at the loose-lipped Hyeonun, unlike a Taoist.

"Are you a stone? For me to pick on you. I was just highly evaluating your ability to monopolize the heart of the beautiful Miss Jin. That night, the stars were really beautiful."

It was a slyness unlike a Taoist. As expected of a person who had mastered the way of love at the best Taoist temple in Shinju. Everyone gathered here knew well what night that night was. Namgung Sang and Jin Ryeong's faces turned as red as a ripe persimmon. They were two people who were still very shy. The fun of teasing those two was so great that it was hard to stop easily.

"Ahem, don't keep teasing me like that."

As Namgung Sang said with a straight face, everyone's laughter burst out.

"Hahahahaha!"

The lid of the box containing the fatal poison for the Vermilion Bird Squad had not yet been opened, and it was precariously maintaining a state of waiting to be opened, where it was not known when it would suddenly open. It was the last supper in the calm before the storm. It was the warmth of the last happiness. The laughter of the Vermilion Bird Squad members, who did not know that, filled the room and rang out clearly.

The Vermilion Bird Squad members, who did not even dream that the being they loathed the most was right next to them, were just happy. After their return, they had suppressed the White Tiger and Black Tortoise squads in one breath, and although they had not been able to overwhelmingly suppress the Azure Dragon Squad, they had achieved a draw, and their stock price was hitting the upper limit day after day. Their names and fame were also getting higher and higher, and now no one in the academy ignored them, and they were secretly being held in high regard. So how could they not be happy?

They did not realize in the slightest that the dream, pleasure, and happiness they were enjoying now were as short as a midsummer night's dream. They did not yet believe in the stinginess of heaven. But heaven was even more stingy and cruel than they had expected.