The world turned white in my vision, and along with the heat that was rushing in from all directions, a deafening roar that seemed to turn the atmosphere upside down echoed.

A blazing flame and an intermittent explosion of electric shock.

In the midst of the barrage, all that heat exploded.

The destruction, which was like a moment, disappeared as suddenly as it had come. Leaving behind only a fierce residual wind that was messing up my hair.

Even in the commotion where the wind was screaming, the people in the area felt a silence. In the midst of an overwhelming bombardment, a person would only hear their own heartbeat.

But even that stopped for a moment, and then a silence fell. Only then could the people who were standing in their spots hear beyond their own heartbeats and witness the scene that was unfolding before their eyes.

What was revealed after the thick smoke had cleared was Baek Cheong, who was standing with his sword raised to the sky.

The spot where the flame lightning had passed was filled with black marks like a crack.

The clothes on his upper body were about half burned, and the muscles that were scorched under his front were twitching, and his two hands that were raised were dyed black like a pile of ashes.

His Adam’s apple moved. The breath that his trembling lips barely exhaled was faint. But his pronunciation was clear.

“…How did you do it?”

I answered, folding and holding the Daoist Scholar’s Fan.

“Well.”

It meant, ‘Don’t talk to me when I’m dead tired.’

Baek Cheong, who had been looking at me with a dazed expression, soon lost the focus in his two eyes and collapsed on the spot.

It seemed it was his limit.

It was a relief. If he had had even a little more strength to move, I would have been the one who was defeated.

It was really a close call.

Thud!

When I turned my head, it seemed the match over there had also been decided, and Baek Hasin, who was scattering a demonic qi, was standing, holding Peng Geun-u’s neck.

Seeing as the large sword, which was his weapon, was rolling on the floor, it seemed he had tried to fight to the end with his bare hands even after losing his sword.

Because the fist art that the Hebei Peng family, who had a mighty physique, unfolded was threatening in itself.

But the result was the complete opposite.

‘Amazing.’

No matter how much he had seized the victory, to think he had subdued a blood relative of the Hebei Peng family with his bare hands.

Even Baek Cheong could not have subdued Peng Geun-u in a close combat in an instant.

‘Is there that much of a gap?’

It was a monstrous growth.

I had been worried that his growth might have stagnated during the vacation, but it seemed it was a needless worry.

‘But something’s a little strange.’

Even though the subjugation was over, the strength in Baek Hasin’s hand, which was holding Peng Geun-u’s neck, did not loosen.

The same went for the blackish demonic qi that was surrounding him.

A sharp energy, it was close to a killing intent.

“Baek Hasin!”

I immediately kicked off the ground to stop him. But as soon as I took a step, the strength in my whole body gave out, and my body tilted.

‘This is…!’

I used too much mana. My body was also half at its limit thanks to the all-night exam and the fierce battle with Baek Cheong.

Just as I was about to roll on the floor.

Tug-

Someone grabbed the back of my collar.

“You’re still weak. If you act up, trusting only in your talent, you’ll get a big nose.”

A blunt and low voice. It was Namgung Dohyeok.

“Then…”

I lifted my head, hanging in the air in a forward-leaning posture.

Before I knew it, Mi Tae-eul, who had come close, had taken Baek Hasin’s hand off of Peng Geun-u.

Mi Tae-eul, who had subdued Baek Hasin so easily with just one hand, muttered.

“It’s strange. He’s conscious, but is he resisting his wild nature?”

And then he flicked the forehead of Baek Hasin, who had half-lost his focus, with his other hand.

Paang-!

Along with the sound of a cannonball exploding, Baek Hasin’s neck was thrown back.

Thud-

Baek Hasin, who collapsed immediately from the tremendous shock.

Mi Tae-eul moderately checked his vital points and then turned his head. Before I knew it, his wrinkled eyes were staring this way.

The moment I felt a certain anxiety at that sight.

Swish-

That old man, who had come right in front of me in a single light step, laughed hoarsely.

“That was a very unique power.”

“Yes… well, keuk!”

“Stand up straight.”

Namgung Dohyeok, who was standing behind me, said that and pulled the back of my collar. Thanks to that, I was able to stand on my trembling legs with my throat blocked.

“As expected, my eyes were not wrong. It’s very interesting.”

Mi Tae-eul patted my shoulder and looked around. The training ground, which had become a mess, was in a state where Baek Hasin, Peng Geun-u, and Baek Cheong, who were all late-stage martial artists, had collapsed and were unconscious.

“Then with this, the two who will finally go up have been decided, right?”

A low murmur echoed through the area.

In the midst of the tension, Mi Tae-eul grinned and concluded.

“The successful candidates for this grade-skipping exam are Zhuge Cheonwu and Baek Hasin. Let’s make it these two.”

In an instant, my tension was released.

I had finally passed.

As if to confirm it to me, Mi Tae-eul added.

“From next week, you will be an intermediate student. Let’s see if you can make it up to a senior student.”

As Mi Tae-eul flicked his finger, a blue piece of clothing, which had been led by a void-grasping substance, flew this way.

A blue robe that was fluttering against the background of the blue sky.

Perhaps because I had been promoted after a lot of hardship, the feeling was different.

Grade-skipping, how much I had suffered for this.

Just as I was immersed in my own thoughts, another blue piece of clothing was placed on top of my head.

“When your peer wakes up, you can give it to him yourself.”

And then, taking advantage of the gap where my vision was covered by the clothes, he disappeared immediately.

The same went for Namgung Dohyeok. But Baek Cheong and Peng Geun-u had already disappeared.

Namgung Dohyeok must have taken them to the clinic.

And since Mi Tae-eul had personally checked Baek Hasin’s pulse, it wouldn’t matter.

“It’s finally over.”

I held the cleaner of the two blue clothes in my arms and then lay down on the spot.

A thrilling sense of accomplishment, a sense of liberation, and a sense of exhaustion came all at once.

Although I would have to rest for a few days due to the backlash of the mana that had been squeezed out to the limit and the muscle aches, I had no regrets.

Because if I hadn’t, I would have been the one who had been eliminated by now.

In fact, the fact that my body was in this state was also partly due to the assistance of the Daoist Scholar’s Fan. Because a tool that was too outstanding could also ruin the user.

Just like how the Daoist Scholar’s Fan had sucked up this side’s mana to the limit in order to increase its firepower this time.

It wasn’t for nothing that there was a concept of a cursed object and an evil object in this world.

‘Anyway, from now on, I’ll be careful when using the Daoist Scholar’s Fan… The problem is that guy, right?’

I turned my head and looked at Baek Hasin, who was stretched out in a large shape.

‘Demonic arts. It’s not a problem in itself, but…’

The demonic arts, which had been analyzed and re-established by the Heaven-Shattering Demon, were strictly one of the official martial arts of the Martial Academy.

Although it seemed strange that the righteous path would allow the demonic arts, there was a reason for it.

Because the demonic arts that the Heaven-Shattering Demon had left behind had almost no of its peculiar side effects.

‘Although its power is halved as much.’

In that sense, the rampage that Baek Hasin had shown this time was a strange point.

The demonic arts, such as the Heavenly Demon Cultivation Method that the Heaven-Shattering Demon had left behind, were a version that had been improved so that one would not be swallowed up by the demonic qi. But when Baek Hasin learned it, his wild nature was awakened instead.

Come to think of it, there was only one reason.

‘The aptitude is too good.’

The synergy between Baek Hasin and the demonic arts was too outstanding.

That’s why he had reabsorbed the martial arts that the Heaven-Shattering Demon had removed and rebuilt, and had recreated the original demonic arts that the Heavenly Demon had used.

It was an astonishing talent.

“It’s absurd.”

I muttered, looking down at Baek Hasin, who was just beginning to regain his consciousness.

“Ugh…”

“Wake up.”

And then I urged him, throwing the slightly less stiff blue clothes at him.

Because it was already around sunset.

Baek Hasin touched his swollen forehead for a moment and then made an urgent voice.

“What about Peng Geun-u?!”

“It seems you remember now. He’ll be fine.”

Baek Hasin, who let out a sigh as if in relief at my words. Seeing this, he was like a protagonist, but he was a guy who still had an anxious side.

“Aren’t you going to ask about the results?”

“…Whether I failed or passed, it’s my share.”

It seemed the fact that he couldn’t control himself had come as quite a shock.

Because if he had made a mistake, he could have even gone into a demonic transformation.

I threw him a growth tip.

“Don’t just foolishly increase your strength, try to handle your demonic qi well first.”

“I know that better than you!”

Baek Hasin, who had suddenly flared up at this side and lifted his head.

“You know nothing. Do you think it will be solved by just suppressing it and putting it away like that? Don’t try to look away, face it properly.”

At my words, Baek Hasin was about to spit something out, but he soon turned his head.

“…What do you know?”

“I know.”

You, who you don’t know.

But since I couldn’t say that, I just shrugged my shoulders as if I were sneering instead.

“The worries of a novice, that is.”

At the half-boastful tone, Baek Hasin immediately flinched and stood up from his spot.

“What did you say? You, who were pushed back by the Plum Blossom Sword.”

“I guess it looked that way to a novice. That’s what you call a strategic retreat.”

“You call being pushed back while being beaten up a retreat?”

“You can’t even control your own strength because you’re distracted while fighting.”

We left the training ground, shooting at each other without anyone going first.

And so, in the midst of our bickering, I suddenly asked him.

“Why did you choose me?”

At that question, Baek Hasin, who had been walking ahead, stopped his feet.

“Because I didn’t get any other telepathic message other than the one to attack you.”

“I see.”

It seemed Baek Cheong and Peng Geun-u had tried to team up from the beginning. No wonder there was a bit of a gap before they both answered. It seemed they had tried to eat it all up, being from a well-known sect and a prestigious family.

I nodded my head and stood up from my spot.

Because the reason I had waited for him until now was to hear this answer. And to show my sincerity as well.

Just as I was about to turn around, Baek Hasin made a voice that could barely be heard under the sunset.

“…And I owe you a debt.”

And then he continued to walk. For some reason, the sunset felt particularly red today.

* * *

A few days had passed since I had been staying at the clinic where Go Wontae was, for the sake of recuperation.

Looking at the busy movements of the instructors in the distance outside the window, I put on a blue robe. When I came out of the clinic, I could feel the coolness peculiar to the autumn wind.

The new semester had finally begun.

I had become an intermediate student.

Although it was a simple fact, it was enough to cause a considerable stir in the academy.

“Is that guy the one who skipped a grade this time?”

“It seems like just yesterday that a strange top student appeared, but to think he’s already been promoted…”

“I hear the rumors about him are not good. Did they say he thoroughly tramples his opponents?”

Murmuring voices. It was a familiar gossip now.

‘Come to think of it, I came out without even telling Lee Huimun and Gu Dong.’

Since our classes were completely different, it couldn’t be helped. But since we were in the same academy, we would probably run into each other at least once.

I arrived at the opening ceremony for the new semester’s intermediate students, receiving the curious and wary gazes of the intermediate students.

But there, people were gathered in a circle, surrounding something.

A tense and heated atmosphere that was transmitted through the air.

I knew right away.

‘Are they fighting from the beginning of the new semester?’

Since they were guys who were full of vigor, it was understandable.

I stood at the edge of the crowd to see what kind of pathetic guys they were and looked beyond them.

‘Huh?’

And I witnessed an unexpected sight. In the center of the crowd was Namgung Bihwa, who was standing with her sword fingers spread.

‘Tsk, tsk, I feel sorry for the opponent.’

And so, as I was thinking and looking down.

“Huh?”

An unimaginable scene came into my wide-open vision.

The one who was crawling on the floor of the training ground was Baek Hasin, who had been beaten to a pulp.

(End of Chapter)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep