“What just happened?”

“I didn’t even see it properly.”

The murmuring students. Although they each had different martial arts and achievements, for now, most of them shared a similar feeling.

It was bewilderment. The aspect of the duel was so shocking that it was hard to believe even after witnessing it right in front of them.

“I can’t believe Do Sogi was taken down without being able to do anything.”

“And to not even need to draw his sword. Is that… the top student?”

The training ground was noisy with the excited voices of the students who couldn’t get out of their shock.

But the protagonist of that commotion was just standing still on one side of the training ground with a blank expression, as if it were perfectly natural.

‘Stop talking already.’

In reality, he was quite embarrassed by the remark he had made.

But even that posture was enough to receive looks of envy from the students, just for the reason that he was the top student who had achieved an overwhelming victory.

Of course, the same was true for the looks of jealousy.

“Wasn’t that a formation just now? It seemed like he was blocked in the middle.”

“What? A formation! That’s a wicked art.”

“Then isn’t it a misnomer to call it a duel?”

A few were chattering in quiet voices.

For those whose heads were filled only with martial arts, things like formations would only be considered wicked arts, so it was only natural for such questions to arise.

And most of all, hadn’t Zhuge Cheonwu won without even swinging his sword once? For martial artists who revered the martial way, it was a victory that was difficult to accept cleanly.

“Whatever it was, the one who won the match was Zhuge Cheonwu. Is Do Sogi an easy opponent? If you’re so unhappy, why don’t you fight him yourselves?”

Just then, Lee Huimun stepped forward on behalf of the person in question and stopped the rumors.

“Isn’t it amazing in itself to be able to cast a formation of that level while standing?”

Gu Dong also chimed in from the side. As such words came out from here and there, the atmosphere changed to one where others also refrained from making groundless speculations.

In any case, the winner was Zhuge Cheonwu, and the fact that he was the top student was certain.

But even so, the sight that Zhuge Cheonwu had shown was a scene that was difficult for them to easily understand, to the point where it was hard to accept without such rationalization.

Because from their perspective, it only looked as if Do Sogi had rushed in at the same time as the match started and then collapsed on his own.

In fact, none of the students present, no, except for a very few with special energy senses, no one had recognized the true value of the martial prowess that Zhuge Cheonwu had shown.

For Zhuge Cheonwu, who did not want his magic to be discovered, it could be said that he was lucky.

But those with such special energy senses were not only in the training ground.

“Wow. What was that just now?”

Wu Hwiryeong’s eyes shone as she witnessed Zhuge Cheonwu’s duel.

That just now was not something like a formation.

On the contrary, it resembled the Void Grasp used by masters of the Transformation Realm. Interfering with the world, which held no energy, with one’s own will to manifest a phenomenon.

“That guy… was he a master of the Transformation Realm?”

“That can’t be.”

Jeongmuk, who was listening to her speculation, pointed out from the side. He had been dragged along, but thanks to that, he had seen a precious scene.

His gaze deepened.

“However, we will need to keep a close eye on this year’s top student. It’s possible that he used an artifact.”

“Hmm. It would have been nice if I had seen it from a little closer.”

Jeongmuk stopped her, who had forgotten her duty and was trying to bother the new student.

“Don’t do that. Aren’t you in charge of the intermediate students?”

“They’re guys who will grow well even without me.”

“The students will be disappointed.”

“Hmph, if I’m not there, the one who will be disappointed is you.”

Jeongmuk fell silent, not feeling the value of responding to her joke.

Because it was always him who got tired when he got caught up in Wu Hwiryeong’s unique free-spiritedness, which she showed when she discovered something very rare.

But for today, he could understand Wu Hwiryeong’s reaction. That one move that Zhuge Cheonwu had shown. What in the world was it?

He was a truly strange guy, just like when he had first seen him in the entrance exam.

“Still, we’ll need to check.”

“Huh? What? Me?”

Jeongmuk sighed at Wu Hwiryeong’s mischievous smile.

“What kind of guy he is. Because we don’t need rats in the academy.”

* * *

“Damn it!”

Do Sogi, who had opened his eyes, roughly opened the door of the student room.

When he came to his senses, the afternoon training had already long passed.

No, the training didn’t matter. The feeling of defeat from being thoroughly beaten by that newcomer was the fundamental reason for his anger.

No matter how much that opponent was the top student. Even if that opponent was the prodigy of the Mount Hua Sect, Baek Cheong, or the second son of the Hebei Peng family, Peng Geun-u, he was confident that he could withstand at least one move.

But to be so miserably defeated by Zhuge Cheonwu, who was famous as the scoundrel of the Zhuge family.

And according to the testimony of the surrounding students, the reason he had lost at that time was because of a formation.

A martial artist, and in a one-on-one duel at that, being played by a formation master!

For Do Sogi, it was a humiliation that was absolutely unbearable. No, it was a disgrace.

“I will definitely get my revenge…!”

Do Sogi still did not accept his defeat.

He believed that Zhuge Cheonwu had defeated him with a wicked art, and he was confident that he could win if they fought with martial arts.

“How should I repay this humiliation?”

Do Sogi muttered. His habit of muttering his thoughts out loud to organize them had flared up in his anxious state.

The way to repay the humiliation, if you think about it simply, is to challenge Zhuge Cheonwu and win.

But if you were to ask if he could really win against Zhuge Cheonwu if they fought again, he honestly couldn’t be sure.

Why is a wicked art a wicked art? It is a wicked art because it is unexpectedly cowardly and devious.

Do Sogi recalled the time of the duel.

Himself, rushing quickly towards the opponent. Zhuge Cheonwu, who was just looking this way without any reaction.

He thought he had won. He had expected that it would be over if he just drew his sword and swung it from his distance.

But his memory ended there. All he could intuit now was the feeling of a huge impact being delivered to his jaw and face.

He thought it was definitely an offensive formation. But at the same time, he felt an unbearable sense of despair.

If Zhuge Cheonwu was really a formation master who could use such an offensive formation right away, he couldn’t easily guarantee victory with his current self.

Moreover, his evaluation would have also dropped after losing in today’s duel and skipping the training entirely.

He had to become an intermediate student this year somehow, so he couldn’t take a gamble just to get revenge.

“What in the world do I do…”

As Do Sogi was lost in thought, trapped in his inner demons.

“Are you worried?”

Someone’s clear voice was heard.

“You are?”

Do Sogi lifted his head and looked at the opponent with a pretty face. It was a face he knew well. He was one of the long-term students like himself.

But Do Sogi knew. That he was a completely different kind of long-term student from himself. That he was an eccentric who had deliberately ‘remained’, not someone who had unavoidably failed.

The opponent clearly had the ability to become an intermediate student. But he had deliberately failed to be promoted and was in this place. His acting was so perfect that everyone was deceived.

If Do Sogi hadn’t accidentally witnessed the scene where he deliberately failed during the final exam, he would have believed that this guy was also a long-term student like himself.

Do Sogi didn’t know why he had done it, but he didn’t even think of asking.

Not only were they not that close, but for some reason, he was scared of the true form hidden behind that smiling face.

“Why did you come to find me?”

Do Sogi asked, hiding the tension rising from within.

“Because I thought the afternoon duel was too much.”

“Too much?”

He was clearly on his guard, but there was something about the guy that disarmed a person’s suspicion. Do Sogi, feeling uneasy inwardly, ended up asking him back.

“Yes, that one move that Zhuge Cheonwu showed. It’s a formation, isn’t it?”

“I know that much.”

Do Sogi said bluntly. At those words, the opponent continued with a grin.

“What if you could make it so that he can’t activate that formation?”

“Is that possible?”

As far as Do Sogi knew, this guy was not a formation master. But how could he break through the formation of the Zhuge family?

The opponent nodded his head.

“Yes. It’s possible. As long as you have these.”

What the guy handed him was an ornament to be tied to a sword and a reddish-brown pill. He continued.

“There will be a team-based exam soon. Since it’s a group battle, Zhuge Cheonwu will definitely use a formation. If you use this then, you’ll be able to break down any such formation.”

“…Why are you giving this to me?”

“I told you. I thought it was too much.”

Do Sogi’s expression crumpled at the opponent’s words. He had not been hoping for such an insincere answer.

“If it’s hard to accept, think of it as a mutual benefit. You can raise your exam score with this, and I can keep Zhuge Cheonwu in check.”

At those words, Do Sogi looked at the ornament and pill given to him and was conflicted. A team exam. The thing he, who specialized in charging, was least confident in was a team exam.

It was partly because it was difficult for him to detect the opponent’s energy sense as he had focused only on the destructive power of his martial arts, but also because his personality was weak in the part of making strategies and cooperating as a group.

Knowing where his team members were and acting within the overall strategy or composition was one of the most difficult things for him.

‘If what he says is true, it’s dangerous.’

This year, there were an unusually large number of new students with outstanding skills. Because of that, a dog-eat-dog fight among the long-term students was a foregone conclusion.

In the midst of this, if he had already lost to Zhuge Cheonwu and couldn’t stand out in the team exam, he might really be expelled from the Martial Academy this year.

Do Sogi let out a groan.

If he had thought about this matter a little more objectively, he would have been able to feel that this situation itself was quite dangerous, but right now, his vision was narrowed by his impatience.

In the end, after a conflict, Do Sogi opened his mouth.

“What do I have to do?”

* * *

“Amazing.”

“It was amazing.”

My head was aching from the voices coming from both sides.

After the afternoon duel, the two guys were chattering about the events of the duel as if to tease me.

“I didn’t even need to draw my sword… what an amazing spirit!”

Gu Dong recalled what I had said as if he had been deeply impressed, and Lee Huimun was curious about the martial prowess I had shown.

“So how did you do it? Was it really a formation? Or a strike?”

I didn’t answer. I was busy analyzing the duels of the other students that followed and contemplating countermeasures.

I also had to personally increase the mana of my circle and practice the [Heaven-Defying Cultivation Art].

But these persistent guys had no intention of leaving me alone. So I headed to the student room. Because what these training addicts couldn’t stand was doing nothing.

As I thought, when I headed to the student room, the guys finished their conversation with a look of disappointment and headed to the training ground. It was clear that they would continue their training there, receiving free guidance from other instructors.

Because the greatest advantage of this Martial Academy was that there were many instructors who had achieved outstanding martial arts accomplishments in various fields.

‘Then is it finally my time alone?’

Just as I, who had been left alone, was about to create a stealth formation on my bed and meditate.

I felt a faint presence from the ceiling.

‘Is a rat running around?’

That constant and faint energy felt like the movement of a small animal, so I was about to dismiss it and move on, when my eyes shot open.

There was no way a rat could make such a constant presence.

“……!”

At the same time, something sharp touched my neck. My whole body was stiff like a mouse in front of a viper, and only my heart was beating fast.

My breathing became faint, and a chilling silence filled the room. Soon, a voice as cold as frost followed.

“Quiet. Follow me if you don’t want to die.”

(End of Chapter)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep