Episode 156: Return to the Martial Arts Academy
As they passed through the main gate of Tongmun Pavilion, a spacious courtyard unfolded before them.
But something felt off.
“This is… way too quiet,” Yeom Jaryang muttered, scratching the back of his head with a frown.
The courtyard was eerily empty, not even an ant in sight. Only the sound of the students’ footsteps echoed around them.
Gok Bo-ok thumped his chest confidently. “Ha! They must’ve been so awed by my prowess that they all ran off. Let’s charge straight to the main hall!”
With that, he strode forward boldly.
“How dare you trespass into Tongmun Pavilion without permission!” A voice boomed, reverberating through the courtyard.
“Ugh!” The students winced, covering their ears against the powerful shout.
Looking up, they saw an old man wearing a bamboo hat standing on the roof of the main hall, his voice sharp and clear. “If you leave now, I won’t hold you accountable for trespassing!”
“Hmph! If you don’t interfere with the legitimate actions of the inspection team, we won’t hold you accountable either!” Gok Bo-ok retorted confidently.
The old man’s lips curled into a slow smile. “If you insist on refusing a peaceful offer, then prepare for the consequences.”
With a snap of his fingers,
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Suddenly, warriors clad in white appeared atop the cliff, descending in a swift, coordinated movement.
From three directions, more warriors in white scaled the walls, charging toward the students.
As dozens of warriors attacked from all sides, the students steeled themselves, drawing their weapons.
In that instant, Neung Soso stepped forward and shouted, “Silestine!”
In her hand was a short metal rod, a weapon she had named the “Rod of Righteousness.” Though it was a mace used by spirit summoners, Neung Soso had given it her own name.
As she extended the mace and called out, something extraordinary happened.
A powerful whirlwind erupted around the students, swirling like a typhoon.
Whoooooosh!
“Ugh!” The charging warriors, and even the students, struggled to maintain their footing against the fierce wind.
Though invisible to others, Neung Soso saw a white, luminous entity swirling before her.
A figure with dazzling armor and hair like the wind, sculpted as if from marble, gazed at her with a serene expression.
The voice was deep and resonant, as if it could stir the soul. Silestine was a supreme spirit of the wind.
Silestine’s beauty was beyond gender, and only Neung Soso could see and hear this phenomenon.
Understanding Neung Soso’s intent, Silestine retreated slightly, then transformed into hundreds of radiant birds of prey.
The white birds swiftly circled the attacking enemies from all directions.
Whoooooosh!
To others, it appeared as a whirlwind, but the eye of the storm remained calm where the students stood.
Whoooooosh!
“Argh!”
“Ugh!”
Crash! Thud!
Unable to withstand the powerful wind, the warriors in white were flung away, tumbling to the ground.
As the warriors were swept aside, the old man on the roof narrowed his eyes.
‘What is this? Did that girl do this? Could it be a wind technique?’
But it made no sense. The warriors in white were all top-tier fighters. How could they be so easily defeated by mere wind?
Having lived his entire life in the martial world, the old man had no knowledge of Silestine, the supreme spirit of the wind.
Meanwhile, watching the enemies being flung away, Neung Soso gripped her mace tightly.
It was her first time summoning Silestine in actual combat.
For six long years, she had fought a relentless battle to summon Silestine.
She had battled herself and even Silestine.
In her fifth year of training, she miraculously summoned Silestine.
Neung Soso had always been attuned to the spirits of the wind, and Silestine was the first supreme spirit she had summoned.
The exhilaration of that moment…
But summoning was just the beginning. Silestine was proud, aloof, and intimidating.
The voice, neither male nor female, echoed in her mind, making even the most harmonious Neung Soso shiver.
It took six months of dedicated effort before Silestine moved in sync with her thoughts.
And now, the fruits of that training were manifesting in reality.
‘Thank you, Silestine!’
Though she was sure Silestine heard her gratitude, the spirit vanished without a word.
The warriors who had been flung away quickly regained their footing and charged again.
This time, Yeom Jaryang stepped forward, drawing his black sword.
“Leave it to me!”
In the next moment, he reversed his grip on the sword and slammed it into the ground.
“Ground Wave!”
As the incantation left his lips,
Rumble! Rumble!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground split and surged like waves, sending rocks and dirt flying in chaos.
“Whoa! What the—! Argh!”
“Ahhh!”
Caught off guard, the warriors in white were once again flung away without even swinging their swords.
Crash! Thud!
The upheaval shook the ground so violently that even the surrounding walls cracked.
The old man watching from the roof furrowed his brow even deeper.
‘What kind of martial arts is this?’
They fought in such an unconventional manner.
Finally, unable to watch any longer, the old man shouted.
“Enough! Fall back!”
At his command, the warriors in white retreated.
Then,
“Archers!”
The old man called out again,
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Archers appeared atop the cliff, drawing their bows taut.
The tension in the air was palpable, as if the arrows could fly at any moment.
“Fire!”
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
In that instant, Sa Bi-gang frowned.
‘Iron arrows!’
The arrows rained down like a storm, capable of piercing even leather armor.
Sa Bi-gang shouted urgently.
“Shield!”
In a flash, the students released their mana, forming protective shields.
Whoosh!
The translucent shields enveloped the students just in time.
Simultaneously,
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The heavy impact of the arrows filled the air.
The iron arrows were so powerful that the students were pushed back even as they stood their ground.
Meanwhile, the old man couldn’t believe his eyes as the arrows failed to reach the students.
‘This is impossible!’
He stood frozen, mouth agape.
‘These youngsters are already using protective energy?’
Though the shields were weaker than true protective energy, he had no way of knowing that.
‘How have these students reached such a level…!’
His gaze shifted to Sa Bi-gang, who stood back by the gate, watching with a faint smile.
‘Is this the new inspector? What have you done to these kids?’
The old man narrowed his eyes.
‘Hmph! But their tricks end here. They can’t withstand a continuous barrage of arrows forever.’
But then, the rain of arrows ceased.
Sa Bi-gang called out again.
“Jeong-ah!”
In an instant, the students knelt on one knee, clearing the view for Dan Li-jeong.
The old man watched as Dan Li-jeong stood tall, drawing her bow.
‘Is she targeting the archers? But she can’t handle so many alone.’
In the next moment,
Whoosh!
Dan Li-jeong released her arrows.
Three arrows flew like beams of light toward the cliff.
The old man smirked slightly.
‘Missed. Quick reaction, but the aim was off.’
But Sa Bi-gang had a different thought as he looked up at the smirking old man.
‘No, the aim was perfect.’
The arrows sliced through the air, striking the edge of the cliff.
In an instant,
Boom!
The mana infused in the arrows exploded, shattering the cliff’s edge.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The successive arrows hit their mark, triggering a chain of explosions.
“Argh!”
“Ahhh!”
The archers fell with the collapsing cliff, plummeting to the ground.
Crash!
Thud!
The old man clenched his teeth at the sight.
‘So that was the plan all along!’
Unfamiliar with the concept of ‘mana,’ he assumed the arrows were tipped with explosives.
‘But…’
There was still one more.
A sniper on their side.
The old man’s eyes widened.
‘Now!’
At that moment, from the opposite building, an archer took aim and released an arrow straight at Dan Li-jeong’s back.
“Watch out!”
In a split second, Dan Lijeong spun around, shouting urgently.
“Don’t get up yet!”
At the same time,
Thwip!
Two arrows flew from his hand.
Thwack!
Astonishingly, one of the arrows heading towards him was struck mid-air and deflected.
The other arrow continued its path, piercing the shoulder of the archer who had fired from the rooftop.
Thunk!
“Aaargh!”
The archer, bow in hand, toppled from the roof and crashed to the ground below.
Thud!
“Ugh…”
He let out a faint groan before losing consciousness.
By now, the old man in the bamboo hat was trembling with rage.
“This is… impossible!”
In truth, when the archers on the cliff had unleashed their volley, Dan Lijeong had not only raised a shield but also meticulously scanned his surroundings.
As an archer himself, assessing the terrain was second nature to him.
That’s when he noticed someone lying in ambush on the building opposite the cliff.
It was another archer, but his aura was different from those on the cliff.
Ordinary people might have missed him, but Dan Lijeong had the eyes of a dragon.
So, as soon as he dealt with the cliff archers, he swiftly turned and released two arrows at the hidden foe.
With no further attacks coming, the students began to walk towards the cliff.
The old man in the bamboo hat bit his lip and leaped down from the ledge.
It was time for him to step in personally.