"Sagon, what did that Cho Clan brat say?" Yeom Gwang asked.
One of the students, Sagon, clasped his hands in a respectful bow and replied, "I insulted him directly to his face. He left looking utterly dejected."
"And then?"
"I heard he went to see a few others. Just as Chief Instructor Yeom predicted, they all turned him away at the door."
Yeom Gwang grinned at the laughing student. "Heh, well done."
"Hehe, Chief Instructor Yeom. So, about me..."
"Alright. It's about time for your promotion. I'll assign you a suitable opponent for the upcoming Martial Arts Contest. Make sure you show your true skills."
"Thank you! Thank you!"
Yeom Gwang smirked sinisterly as the student bowed his head, tears welling up.
You'll never succeed.
He would make sure of it.
Yeom Gwang's authority within the Copper Hall was absolute.
For years, he had commanded the Instructors and Students in place of the listless Chunghyeon.
During this time, Yeom Gwang had devised numerous methods to wield his power, each more cunning than the last.
The promise he had just made to the Student was one such tactic, known as "The Push."
By recruiting obedient Students, he could manipulate public opinion among their peers or orchestrate collective actions.
This method was particularly effective for ousting Instructors who displeased him.
And when results were needed, he could discreetly manipulate promotion outcomes, ensuring his desired candidates advanced.
Since the Chief Instructor oversaw the Martial Arts Contest proceedings, cleaning up any loose ends was never a problem.
Disciples from Minor Sects, whose skills barely met the mark, clung desperately to promotion opportunities. Once promoted, they conveniently kept silent about the dubious circumstances of their advancement.
A clean and effective method that required no cleanup.
This is what true skill looks like.
In the Martial World, martial arts aren't everything.
Intrigue and scheming are commonplace, and sometimes even outright treachery is employed.
It's a place that teaches the bitter truths of life and how to navigate them properly.
Isn't this what real education should be?
Yeom Gwang now felt a sense of pride as he watched the instructors carefully gauge his mood.
If only that damn bastard weren't here!
He didn't know where the newcomer had crawled out of, but anyone who dared set foot in his domain deserved a thorough thrashing.
The mere thought of the man's persistent advances toward Yeo Mae-hong made Yeom Gwang's blood boil, even in his sleep.
"Ah, Chief Instructor."
"What is it? You haven't left yet?"
"If you have the time, I'd like to seek your guidance. I'm still struggling to grasp the New Martial Sword Technique."
New Martial Sword Technique.
This was the fundamental sword form taught at the Copper Hall.
As Chief Instructor, Yeom Gwang was naturally expected to teach it, but he flew into a rage.
"Fool! Do you think I have nothing better to do than fix your pathetic martial arts?"
The student, Guan Do, quickly presented a heavy pouch.
"The Cho Clan has prepared a token of gratitude. They insist I must advance this time to save face."
"Oh?"
"I absolutely must advance this time. For that, guidance from a renowned master like Chief Instructor Yeom is essential."
"Commendable dedication."
Yeom Gwang weighed the pouch in his hand and declared confidently, "Very well. With such sincerity, there's no reason I can't offer my guidance."
"T-then..."
"You will undoubtedly advance this time."
Yeom Gwang's bold declaration sounded almost like a prophecy.
Cho Un-hwi whistled as he reviewed the personal details written on the paper.
"Namgung Yun-ho..."
Namgung Yun-ho.
The eldest son of the Foremost Clan of the Azure Sky, the first among the Five Great Clans whose influence permeated every corner of the Martial World. A family revered as the Azure Sky's foremost clan.
"And the elder brother of the Little Sword Dragon, Namgung Yong-ho."
Among the exceptional talents destined to lead the righteous Martial World into the future, a select few were known as the Five Dragons and Three Peaks.
The Little Sword Dragon stood out among them, a prodigy whose martial prowess earned him the title of "Little Sword Dragon" among the Five Dragons.
In contrast, Namgung Yun-ho...
"This is just pathetic."
It was baffling how such a son could have emerged from the Azure Sky Sword, the patriarch of the Namgung Clan.
At twenty-one years old, he had already spent seven years at the Copper Hall.
Most students typically advance within a year.
Even the slowest students at Copper Hall, who took two years to advance, were considered exceptional. To remain there for seven years was truly legendary.
"It seems the clan has given up on him, leaving him to rot at the New Martial Arts Academy instead of teaching him their martial arts."
It was practically neglect.
Or perhaps even worse—outright abandonment.
"After all, a student who's been at Copper Hall for seven years isn't even listed on the Student Roster."
Even those familiar with the Martial World were often unaware of Namgung Yun-ho's existence, the elder brother of Namgung Yong-ho.
This was because Namgung Yong-ho, the Little Sword Dragon, was widely known as the Namgung Clan's Chief Young Master.
How could the clan's Chief Young Master simply vanish without deliberate concealment?
Moyong Seonya's knowledge of Namgung Yun-ho, a name absent from the Roster, was a series of remarkable coincidences.
"Young Master Namgung entered the Academy at the same time as me," she explained.
"But at some point, his name stopped being mentioned."
"He became someone who existed, yet didn't exist on the Roster."
Namgung Yun-ho had become like a ghost story at the New Martial Arts Academy.
It was truly baffling.
"How strange," Cho Un-hwi murmured.
But Cho Un-hwi's curiosity lay elsewhere.
"That eccentric Sword Demon, the one who became a madman, is called a ghost of the New Martial Arts Academy?"
The bizarre martial artist who wielded his sword like a madman, wading through rivers of blood.
As Cho Un-hwi recalled that fading figure, he licked his lips.
"Intriguing."
Finding Namgung Yun-ho's residence was surprisingly easy.
Though he was called the "Ghost of Copper Hall," the place was still a finite space.
After searching the darkest and most secluded training ground, Cho Un-hwi spotted a figure moving stealthily, avoiding the eyes of others.
"There he is."
A gloomy swordsman with a rough stubble and unkempt hair. He wore a tattered martial robe with frayed seams and carried a well-worn sword.
Whenever students passed by, he would secretly hide in the shadows beneath the walls before shuffling back into the shaded areas.
"It's him—Namgung Yun-ho."
After confirming his identity, Cho Un-hwi cautiously approached.
He waited for Namgung Yun-ho to emerge before stepping into his path.
"Care for a chat?"
The lifeless, somber eyes shifted slightly.
"Who are you?"
"Me? I'm the new instructor at Copper Hall."
"..."
Namgung Yun-ho didn't even react. He simply shifted his path slightly and brushed past.
"Hey, I want to talk to you."
"I have nothing to say."
"It'll only take a moment."
I blocked his way again, but Namgung Yun-ho's gaze remained icy.
"I have no business with you."
"Hey, just hear me out."
When I grabbed his shoulder to stop him from ignoring me, Namgung Yun-ho's head snapped around.
His eyes now blazed with cold fury, a stark contrast to his earlier indifference.
Huh? I didn't expect this kind of reaction.
As I struggled to find the right words, Namgung Yun-ho's lips moved.
"Are you planning to sell me some rare elixir too?"
Huh? Elixir?
"Or are you going to tell me I can become a master if I train in some special way?"
"I think you're misunderstanding something...?"
"More than ten instructors sold quack remedies, claiming they were rare elixirs. Countless others taught absurd sorcery, calling it a special training method. There was even one who introduced a shaman, claiming I was cursed. What do you intend to do?"
"..."
"I understand you want to guide me to gain fame. Bestowing grace upon the Namgung Clan's disgrace would make for a decent heroic tale. It would even be a good story to tell over drinks."
Cho Un-hwi's grip loosened at the unexpected response.
Namgung Yun-ho brushed his hand away and said, "I have no money."
He pointed to his tattered clothes. "And now, I have no hope either."
"So you want to create a heroic tale to tell over drinks?"
"Or perhaps you shouldn't toy with people's lives out of mere curiosity."
"I'm begging you."
Watching Namgung Yun-ho trudge away, Cho Un-hwi remained rooted to the spot for a long time.
Swish! Swish-swish!
Namgung Yun-ho swung his sword relentlessly.
His swordsmanship remained as frustratingly clumsy as ever.
He tried to channel his inner energy, but his true qi refused to flow smoothly.
No, it wasn't merely a matter of disrupted qi flow. The dantian, once a solid presence in his lower abdomen, had gone completely numb.
Some claimed he had contracted a rare illness.
Desperate, he sought out various medicines and tried every possible remedy.
But nothing improved.
Swish. Swish-swish. Swish.
Yet Namgung Yun-ho refused to stop swinging his sword.
He feared that if he stopped, he would forget the sword techniques entirely.
He would rather die than abandon the sword he had held since childhood.
He swung his sword desperately.
Though his swordsmanship remained clumsy and disjointed, he continued the forms as if executing the Supreme Arts and Peerless Techniques of the world.
"Hoo... I'm getting tired."
At some point, even simply swinging the sword felt burdensome, let alone channeling his inner energy.
Thud.
He leaned his sword against a nearby rock and picked up the gourd he had brought with him.
Inside was medicinal spring water he had collected from the mountain behind the Cho Clan estate at dawn.
It had no particular medicinal effect, but drinking it always made his mind feel clearer, so fetching the spring water himself had become a daily ritual.
Gulp. Gulp. Hoo.
As he drank, his mind gradually cleared.
With his thoughts sharpened, the earlier incident suddenly resurfaced in his memory.
The man who called himself a new instructor.
At first, Namgung Yun-ho felt a pang of envy at his youthful appearance, almost boyish.
"Everyone's surpassing me."
With his bangs obscuring his eyes and loose martial robes concealing his figure, it was impossible to guess his exact age, but he was undoubtedly younger than Yun-ho.
"This is frustrating."
Jealousy and envy gnawed at him.
Self-loathing surged, making his head feel heavy.
But what tormented him most was that the sword that had once cleaved the Azure Sky at his command now struggled to execute even the Murim Alliance's basic sword forms.
"I'm most sorry to you," Namgung Yun-ho murmured, patting the scabbard.
"Truly, I'm so sorry."
Swish.
As Namgung Yun-ho departed, a small, shadowy figure materialized from the darkness like mist.
"This is strange. Really strange," Cho Un-hwi muttered, his form solidifying from the mist like prey emerging from its lair.
Had anyone witnessed this clandestine and bizarre transformation, they would have been terrified. Yet Cho Un-hwi remained deep in thought.
"It's definitely him, isn't it?"
Why is he only showing this much power at this stage?
Though puzzled, one thing was clear: he had to persuade Namgung Yun-ho, no matter what.
"It can't be easy to keep wielding the sword after countless setbacks."
How many talented individuals across the world had given up in the face of adversity?
Simply refusing to give up was impressive, but what truly caught Cho Un-hwi's attention was the young man's method.
"It's rare to find someone who can walk a path of utter darkness, without even a glimmer of light, and still refuse to retreat, pressing forward in a straight line. Remarkable."
If there were even a faint glimmer of light, one could simply follow it.
But how many individuals would stubbornly advance through complete darkness, refusing to turn back?
Even in a long life, Cho Un-hwi could count on one hand the number of people he had seen actually do this.
"This confirms one thing for certain."
Thanks to this, his resolve had solidified.
His path forward.
"I must acquire that fellow."
Not because he knew the future.
Not because he needed him.
But because he had to be someone like that.
"After all, I adore fools."
Cho Un-hwi grinned, baring his teeth.
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