-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Demonic Arts? No, It's Orthodox Martial Arts!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
While it served the purpose of educating the later generations of martial artists,
the true aim of Baekhwahakgwan was to foster interaction among them.
For that reason, a period of rest was granted after the mid-term exams.
The enlightenment I gained in Mount Taebaek certainly ignited a fierce passion for martial arts within me, but passion alone couldn't overcome the gap in time.
So, apart from the time I spent delving into the elusive insights that seemed just out of reach, I moved to gradually expand my influence within the academy.
For instance.
I formally joined the Guksamussang Association, which I had considered joining before.
They were people pursuing the path to becoming the best mahjong players in the academy, and even in the Central Plains, but their skill was, well...
At best, comparing it to my previous world, it was 'amateur league' level.
They played by instinct, like beasts, yet were stubbornly full of their own self-righteousness.
Of course, mahjong, being an irrational game, was a meaningless one largely decided by luck.
Rather than getting overly immersed or trying to teach them, I focused on communication and enjoyed it.
While I was at it, I also memorized the IDs of the people sitting at the same table.
"Tsumo! Guksamussang, sixteen thousand points for everyone!"
"Ugh...!"
"That's some outrageous luck you've got!"
How rude.
It's skill.
"Geum Sihyeon, you son of a...!"
Of course, since I had already demonstrated a few 'techniques' before, Mo Yongtaek's reaction was a bit subtle.
But the hand is quicker than the eye.
Can you keep up? With the speed of my left hand?
"Haha. It's skill."
It had been a rather lucky day.
"Excuse me. Is Student Geum Sihyeon here?"
It certainly was, until three guards from the academy suddenly came looking for me.
My brain accelerated at a speed comparable to a life-or-death battle.
I hadn't really caused any trouble recently.
At most, I had secretly drawn a few erotic paintings mimicking 21st-century Japanese art styles and sold them for a hefty sum.
Or borrowed Unhak's smartphone for promotional purposes and casually plastered about ten pages of images in his gallery.
Or, after seeing me crush Wi Cheon, the jerk Okcheongja from Mount Hua still kept pestering me, so I secretly put a special laxative in his food.
Or went out on the weekend and casually swept up about ten gold pieces from the gambling den using loaded dice.
Or secretly sprinkled a generous amount of pepper on Ruri's sweets, fed them to her, and then held my stomach laughing as she sneezed "Ppoo-eng-chwi Kkeu-eng-chwi."
It was a very ordinary daily life.
"I am Geum Sihyeon. Let's step outside and talk first."
...Whatever it was, it didn't seem good for it to be publicized.
Being branded an erotic artist would be a bit... much.
Fortunately, the guards docilely accompanied me outside.
And then.
"You are being temporarily detained on suspicion of cultivating forbidden demonic arts. You have the right to remain silent, and anything you say can be used against you in a hearing."
"Huh?"
"Do you understand these rights?"
"Huh?"
A Miranda warning was suddenly thrown at me like a fastball.
* * *
Judging by the ominous atmosphere, it certainly felt like I was being dragged to an underground dungeon.
Fortunately, it wasn't that severe; I was merely temporarily confined to a room in the main building.
Demonic arts, they said.
Me, with demonic arts!
I, who had tirelessly strived to live the life of an upright, innocent, and impeccable orthodox martial artist, a demonic practitioner?!
If there was anything even remotely similar to demonic arts I had cultivated, it would be the Blood Wolf Sword Art.
My sword art had already been refined, or perhaps altered—in any case, it had been modified to a subtle degree where it could barely be called the Blood Wolf Sword Art anymore.
From the start, I had established it by imitating only the forms I saw in my mind's eye, then mixed in what I observed from Ruri's techniques, and finally, together with Sister Seol, incorporated the essence of the Hwayeong Sword Art.
In short, it had become so individualized that it could even be called the Hwarang Sword Art.
They wouldn't have left it alone during classes only to publicize it now, so there must be something else.
Surely, they wouldn't check my smartphone.
After the Ruri incident, I had implemented thorough security, so my gallery should be safe unless something like forensic analysis came up.
Still, as I gnawed on the feelings of loss, fear, emptiness, loneliness, and torment from half my world disappearing, my legs trembled.
The door opened.
The one who entered was my second brother, Geum Sirang.
"It's you, Brother! You came to rescue me!"
"No. I got arrested too."
The moment he saw my face, Geum Sirang, wearing a grimace, shuffled over and slumped down beside me.
"What trouble have you gotten into again? And what's this about demonic arts?"
"I haven't caused any trouble yet. And I haven't cultivated any demonic arts."
"Yet?"
I turned my head away, avoiding Geum Sirang's narrowed gaze.
Honestly, though.
I possess an open mindset, so I don't particularly distinguish between demonic arts and divine arts.
If a bad guy uses it, it's demonic arts.
If a good guy uses it, it's divine arts.
Of course, there are bizarre martial arts whose very methods of learning are messed up, but why not just avoid learning those in the first place?
"So what exactly am I accused of?"
"The Blood Wolf Sword Art, and the Star-Absorbing Great Art."
"And what's the Star-Absorbing Great Art?"
"I don't know either."
Geum Sirang proudly admitted his ignorance.
Come to think of it, this person...
He's a martial arts ignoramus who got in through the Hanlimwon's backdoor.
He's really no help at all.
It would have been great if Master had been here at a time like this.
However, due to the Mount Taebaek incident, he had been disciplined and was currently away from the academy.
He was probably, at this very moment, scouring all the nearby mountain ranges, searching for traces of the ferocious beast.
"Hmm... Brother. Isn't the timing rather suspicious?"
"Why?"
"It's as if they decided to stir up trouble specifically when Master Seo isn't here."
Geum Sirang's face also grew somber.
It made perfect sense that they were pressuring us now, taking advantage of Master's absence—a Master who held goodwill not only towards me but also towards the Man-Geum Pavilion as a whole.
"It's deliberate timing. No wonder I hadn't heard a thing about it."
Geum Sirang, also shrewdly understanding the situation, racked his brain furiously.
After that.
"Student Geum Sihyeon. Please come out."
Until a guard came to call me out.
We prepared for countless contingencies and repeatedly added consistency to our logic.
It was time to see the face of the bastard who had framed me.
* * *
An interim hearing being held was an almost unprecedented event at Baekhwahakgwan.
At most, it was for moral misconduct.
Like seducing a disciple of the Divine Maiden Sect, not only breaking the rule of male-exclusion but also getting her pregnant.
Or claiming to cure a heart demon, entering the training cave with a disciple of the Emei Sect, and fulfilling their masochistic tendencies.
Or being caught enjoying obscene acts in broad daylight with a female student who wasn't even five feet tall, defying social norms.
Of course, all of them were expelled from the academy.
At least, this was the first one held in the last two years.
Furthermore, regular instructors were only notified of the opening on the very day.
A chaotic atmosphere permeated the hearing hall.
Soon after, Geum Sihyeon entered, swishing his ridiculously expensive long robe, his face sullen and brimming with indignation.
"Amitabha. The interim hearing shall now commence. This is not a place to interrogate wrongdoing or exact punishment, but rather to ascertain the truth, so I ask that everyone proceed with gravity and composure."
From the highest seat.
Grand Master Wol Song, whose expression made it impossible to discern his thoughts, declared the opening.
"Then, let us first examine the evidence submitted by the accuser regarding Student Geum Sihyeon's alleged demonic arts."
The person who stepped forward to lead the interim hearing.
And the very individual who had accused Geum Sihyeon anonymously.
Namgung Baek wore a faint smile.
He couldn't understand how those foolish Dang Family members had handled things; despite even mobilizing assassins, they had achieved nothing.
In any case, those without proper foundations were bound to be caught like this eventually.
How could a mere heir from a merchant guild possibly cultivate enough internal energy to be admitted into Baekhwahakgwan?
Naturally, he must have dabbled in forbidden demonic arts, and he had managed to obtain some conclusive evidence.
"The accusation can be confirmed in the video uploaded here on Mootube. Let us watch it together."
Namgung Baek connected his smartphone to the massive screen hanging in the hearing hall and played the video.
At first, he had watched it without much thought.
But after hearing about the Mount Taebaek incident and then learning that the people in the video were Geum Sihyeon and the Tiger-Masked Ghost, Sa Dokyung, it looked different.
The Tiger-Masked Ghost, Sa Dokyung, was known as a master of the Green Forest, at least at the Transcendent level or higher.
Geum Sihyeon, on the other hand, was at best a First-Rate martial artist.
Rumors claimed he had reached the Peak, but that was absurd. The depth of martial arts couldn't be achieved in such a short time.
In other words.
Even if he died and came back to life, Geum Sihyeon couldn't defeat Sa Dokyung.
Especially the end.
The sight of Sa Dokyung being pushed back in the internal energy confrontation was decisive.
"Let's watch it one more time, slowly this time."
Playing it back again and again.
Sa Dokyung's internal energy seemed to vaporize, rising like a heat haze from his body, and a faint portion of it appeared to be sucked into Geum Sihyeon.
In the Jianghu, there were hardly any martial arts that could absorb another's internal energy.
Those widely known were typically Sexual Cultivation Arts.
For absorbing yang to supplement yin, there was the Demonic Cult's Maiden's Joyful Art.
For absorbing yin to supplement yang, there was the Lustful Demon's unique martial art, the Cloud-Rain Sexual Art.
For absorbing yin to supplement yin, there was the Bear Maiden Sect's Ice-Preserving Ecstasy Art.
And for absorbing yang to supplement yang, even the Smallpox Sect's Five Paths Qi-Harmonizing Art.
Every single one of them only absorbed another person's energy during the act of sexual intercourse.
Therefore, only one possibility remained.
The Star-Absorbing Great Art.
He didn't know how he had acquired it, but he must have dabbled in that cursed demonic art.
"—That concludes it. This is the circumstantial evidence that Student Geum Sihyeon has dabbled in forbidden demonic arts. Furthermore, as you all must have seen from the video analysis, the sword art Student Geum Sihyeon uses is similar to the Demonic Cult's martial art, the Blood Wolf Sword Art."
Finishing his statement, Namgung Baek cast a fresh glance around.
Mo Yongseol's face, twisted as if she'd bitten into something bitter, looked as though her gaze alone could tear him to shreds.
Come to think of it, that woman was fond of Geum Sihyeon.
It seemed those without proper foundations had a way of understanding each other.
It bothered him that Dang Mok, who should have been actively supporting him, was quiet, but he probably just thought his own credit had been stolen, like the petty man he was.
As for the others.
"Hoh... indeed..."
"Even now, Student Geum Sihyeon doesn't seem to possess enough internal energy to subdue a Transcendent master."
"It does feel a bit odd to simply call it skill."
The atmosphere had tilted.
Namgung Baek bit his lip desperately to suppress his laughter.
If they could just cripple that fellow's internal energy like this, and then link the entire Man-Geum Pavilion to demonic arts, they could exterminate the whole clan.
Just then.
"But, what exactly is the Star-Absorbing Great Art?"
Geum Sihyeon shamelessly posed the question.
"From your reactions, it seems to be a forbidden demonic art, but my knowledge is shallow, and I don't know its exact characteristics. It's possible I might have encountered something similar during my ignorant days when I knew little of martial arts, so I humbly ask for your enlightenment."
Right.
Is this the 'I didn't know' strategy?
Namgung Baek scoffed at Geum Sihyeon internally as he elaborated.
"The Star-Absorbing Great Art, as its name suggests, is a demonic art that drains an opponent's internal energy. If one cultivates this martial art, they will constantly feel an insatiable thirst, which can only be quenched by absorbing internal energy. In the process, one inevitably absorbs various impure qi, causing their internal energy to become muddled, which then directly afflicts their very bones and marrow, turning them into a demonic practitioner."
"Hmm... You seem to know a lot about it?"
Geum Sihyeon narrowed his eyes.
Just as Namgung Baek, enraged by the audacious attitude he received after painstakingly explaining everything, was about to retort.
- No one can enter right now—
- If you cause trouble here— Ugh!
The commotion outside the tightly closed hearing hall door grew louder and louder, until it burst open with a loud crunch.
The one who entered was an ordinary-looking middle-aged man.
He surveyed the assembly and murmured softly.
"Well, there are quite a few familiar faces."
Immediately, shouts of indignation erupted from various corners.
"Sword Demon! How dare you show such disrespect in this place!"
"Are you, an outsider, trying to interfere with the affairs of an orthodox academy!"
"Grand Master! How long must we tolerate this man's tyranny!"
But the Sword Demon didn't bat an eye, striding over and taking one of the empty seats.
And then.
"I heard that the fellow I've marked as my disciple is suffering here. I won't interfere, so just quickly finish the expulsion proceedings. I'll take him and raise him as my direct disciple."
That casually tossed remark caused a massive stir in the hall.