Chapter 1109
Jo-Gol stretched vigorously as he got up.
“This feels so good!”
How long has it been since he overslept?
Since that devil bastard entered Mount Hua, the word oversleeping has completely disappeared from the lives of third-class disciples. The word “night’s sleep” was barely holding on, so how could “oversleeping” even be possible?
But today! On this historic day, even that damned guy couldn’t do anything to them.
After refining his clothes, Jo-Gol Jo left the room with confident steps.
“Are you up?”
“You too, Sahyung!”
“Yes.”
Yoon Jong faced Jo-Gol with a wide smile. His face was also shining brightly. Usually, his face looked so dry it seemed like it would crumble at a touch…
“…This is truly amazing. It is amazing how much better a person can feel just by getting a good night’s sleep.”
“Keu! I know right? If my body always felt like this, I’d be up for a match with Chung Myung.”
“No. That’s a bit too far.”
Yoon Jong chuckled and then tilted his head as if he remembered something.
“No, wait a minute. Then….”
“Yes?”
“…Does that mean everyone else has been living like this?”
For a moment, the two of them looked at each other with blank faces.
“So this is the normal state of body?”
“I guess so?”
“…Crazy, everyone else knew about this good thing. Why wasn’t I the only one who didn’t know?”
Yoon Jong wiped away the moisture that was building up around his eyes.
Jo-Gol, it’s not that you didn’t know; you forgot. And you’ll soon forget again, as long as that devil lives in Mount Hua…
Jo-Gol cracked his neck.
“Anyway, I’m full of energy. If they had told us to rest for a whole day, I might have felt guilty and sneaked out to train, but half a day feels just right.”
“I feel that way too.”
Yoon Jong chuckled as he walked toward the training ground. Since the sun was high in the sky, it was time to start training.
“The Tang Family members must have had a hard time, right?”
“Yes, but….”
Yoon Jong shrugs his shoulders.
“Don’t underestimate a prestigious sect. They were caught off guard and surprised, prestigious sects are prestigious for a reason. Their training must have been tough, though maybe different in style, but not any less rigorous.”
“That can’t be right.”
“Huh?”
Yoon Jong looked back. Before he knew it, Tang Soso had approached them unnoticed and was smiling meaningfully.
“If it were, I wouldn’t have been so shocked when I first joined Mount Hua.”
“….”
“It is true that the style is different, but it’s also true that the intensity is different. There’s no other sect in the world that pushes its disciples with such insane training like Mount Hua.”
“R- Really?”
“In the first place, even if they wanted to impose this kind of training, they couldn’t.”
“Why?”
“Because people wouldn’t survive.”
Yoon Jong tilted his head with a puzzled look.
“But we survived, didn’t we?”
“Look at this Sahyung.”
Tang Soso looked at Yoon Jong with a bewildered expression.
“No, search the whole world. Do you think there’s any sect that feeds its disciples’ elixirs like Mount Hua?”
“….”
“Mount Hua’s Jasodan is an elixir that is comparable to Shaolin’s Great Rejuvenation Pill. No, in some ways, it is a greater elixir than Great Rejuvenation Pill. You know that, right?”
“Tha- That’s true.”
After all, it’s the legendary elixir of Immortal Medicine.
“Even in Shaolin, not just anyone gave Great Rejuvenation Pill. It is a great blessing to pick and choose among those with proven talent and give them just one grain.”
“Yes.”
Tang Soso’s brows furrowed.
“But Mount Hua Sect eats Jasodan like it’s some common tonic.”
“….”
“Even Monk Hye Yeon has probably consumed more Jasodan since coming to Mount Hua than Great Rejuvenation Pill in Shaolin.”
The two people nodded, dumbfounded.
If you think about it that way, Hye Yeon, even though he uses Shaolin martial arts and is bald, should be considered a disciple of Mount Hua. Isn’t it only natural for a person to be loyal to where they’ve received more benefits?
“Because it is such Mount Hua Sect, that we able to withstand this. Any other sect would be crying out in agony by now. When you’re young, your body can’t withstand the training, and when you’re older and more advanced, you can’t easily change your established training habits. It is also an age where they’re difficult to control.”
“That’s….”
Training a ten-year-old is different from teaching a thirty-year-old. Naturally, there would be resistance.
‘Unless it’s some bastard like Chung Myung.’
If you resist, you die. No, it’s better to die. And there’s no thought of escaping.
That kind of person is why Chung Myung can control not only Mount Hua but also Tang Family, Nokrim, and Namgung Family…
“Anyway, this isn’t something you can do just because you want to. So, my brothers and sisters must be having a hard time right now.”
“…I see.”
“Some people think that the core of Mount Hua is Chung Myung Sahyung, but in my opinion, Jasodan is no less than that.”
“…Isn’t that the same thing?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Because it was Chung Myung who created Jasodan.”
Tang Soso seemed to think for a moment and then nodded.
“That’s true…”
At that time, Jo-Gol, who had been silent, seemed to be thinking about something and opened her mouth.
“Soso.”
“Yes?”
“Then here’s something strange. Why don’t other sects distribute their elixirs like that?”
Tang Soso looked at Jo-Gol with eyes that said, ‘How come there are people who don’t think about this?’. Jo-Gol, who received that look, shrank his neck.
“No, Sahyung, are you really the son of a merchant family?”
“Wha- What does this have to do with that?”
“Do you think elixirs are something you can just make whenever you feel like it? To create an elixir, you need at least rare materials like the inner core of a precious mystical creature or a rare herb that’s found maybe once in several decades.”
“R- Really?”
“It is said that Tang Family’s Heaven Poison Pill ((???/天毒團)can only be manufactured if you find a poison that is difficult to see even if you wash your eyes. What’s truly amazing about Jasodan is that it’s made from ingredients that, although rare, can be obtained if one is determined.”
“Ah….”
Only then did Jo-Gol understand everything and nodded.
“While the old Jasodan of the old Mount Hua that was lost might have been better in terms of efficacy, making just one pill back then would have required the effort it takes to make several hundred of the current Jasodan.”
“So, to conclude….”
“Hm?”
Jo-Gol grins.
“It means that the people of Tang Family are running out of stamina right now and are on the verge of death.”
“…You’re right.”
If you cut out all the context, it does mean that.
“Huhuhu. I think that’s also interesting to see…. Shall we go have a look?”
Yoon Jong frowned at Jo-Gol’s words.
“It doesn’t seem right to say that in front of Soso… Why do you harbor such ill feelings toward Tang Family? Even though you’re from Sichuan.”
“It’s precisely because I’m from Sichuan.”
“Why?”
Jo-Gol clicked his tongue and looked back at Yoon Jong.
“Do you like Southern Edge Sect since Sahyung lives in Shaanxi?”
“…No way.”
“It’s similar. Since I was young, I had a habit of being scared whenever I saw Tang Family members, so I developed an antipathy towards it without even realizing it. I’m finally getting over it.”
Yoon Jong shook his head.
‘You’ll never get over that.’
Just looking at Soso still scares you, so how could you possibly overcome Tang Family?
No…. Is Soso scarier than Tang Family?
Jo-Gol, who was giggling, Yoon Jong, who was shaking his head, Tang Soso, with a complex and subtle expression, entered the training ground. And….
“Uh… It’s cold.”
“Why is there suddenly a chill…?”
The three trembled at the same time.
“…Is it already winter?”
The three of them squeezed through Mount Hua disciples who were already lined up in the training ground. As soon as they spotted a familiar back, they huddled close behind.
“Sasuk.”
“Uh… huh?”
“Why is the atmosphere like this?”
“Uh… that.”
Baek Cheon opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, then gestured towards the front.
“See for yourself.”
“Yes?”
The three looked at the scene Baek Cheon pointed out. Their mouths dropped open simultaneously without anyone speaking first.
“Oh…”
“Wow…”
“Hoh…”
There wasn’t anything particularly different. The Tang Family members were simply lined up in front of them, just like during regular training sessions.
If there is one minor difference….
“Aigoo. Oraboni….” (A very polite way to refer to big bro.)
Tang Soso trembled.
The face of Tang Pae, Sogaju of Sichuan Tang Family, standing at the forefront, was bruised black and blue. It was so vivid that anyone would think it was intentionally painted on.
“The- Their appearance is…”
“How….”
The swollen faces of Tang Family members were ridiculously grotesque. However, no one could laugh at their faces.
This was because between the eyes, which were so swollen that they had become as small as buttonholes, a look filled with venomous rage was leaking out.
“Mount Hua….”
“Bastards…”
“Kill them all.”
Jo-Gol flinched and took a step back.
Hey? I don’t think we were the ones who made them like that? But why did we get the arrow out of nowhere….
“Traitors…”
“Rotten Shaanxi scum.”
Wow… even Evil Sects wouldn’t have that kind of look.
“K- Kuhum.”
Baek Cheon cleared his throat loudly.
“It seems Tang Gaju-nim was very angry.”
“…It seems so.”
“No matter how angry someone is. T- To turn a person into that…”
Tang Soso immediately refuted the claim.
“It’s okay. Sichuan Tang Family’s medical skills are top-notch. They get beat just enough to be fixed.”
“….”
In times like this, one will know for sure. Where Tang Soso’s blood came from.
“You all here?”
At that moment, Chung Myung walked out with his hands behind his back, looking indifferent. He glanced between Tang Family and Mount Hua who were facing each other.
“Well… I had something planned for this afternoon.”
As soon as the words “something planned” left his mouth, Tang Family members’ gazes snapped toward Chung Myung like knives. If looks could kill, Chung Myung would have been torn to pieces.
“…But that seems… uh… difficult.”
Chung Myung slightly averted his gaze and looked at the distant sky.
‘…I thought it was a relief that your blood didn’t continue.’
When you think about it, they’re still relatives, so where could they go?
Chung Myung quietly glanced back. Tang Gun-ak, his face hardened, was looking at him with his arms crossed and his eyes burning.
He clearly said, ‘I will never say a word, and I will never interfere with your inherent rights regarding training method, but I’m very uncomfortable in this situation where you say you might be doing other training now.’
“Uh, well… haha. It would be disappointing to end it with just one match, right?”
As soon as he finished speaking, Mount Hua disciples desperately shook their heads.
We’re really, truly, completely fine. Like, there’s not a shred of regret whatsoever.
Of course, Chung Myung pretended not to notice.
“So, we have no choice. Today, we’ll have another match like yesterday… The winning side gets to rest for half a day tomorrow too.”
“Wa- Wait a minute, Chung Myung. This doesn’t seem right.”
“Can’t you see their eyes? Wouldn’t they murder someone?”
In the eyes of the Mount Hua disciples, Chung Myung looked uncharacteristically embarrassed, while Tang Gun-ak wore a satisfied smile, as if he finally approved.
“Then, let’s start….”
“Kill!”
“Knock them all to death!”
“Bury them! These traitors!”
Before Chung Myung could finish speaking, Tang Family members drew their sharp hidden weapons and charged.
“E- Eeeeek!”
“Do- Dodge!”
Mount Hua’s disciples realized something as they watched hidden weapons pouring down like rain from the sky. Something was starting to go terribly wrong.