Chapter 7: Return to the Martial Arts Academy
“There’s no trace of collusion at all?”
“Y-yes, that’s correct.”
Deung Bu-hyeong was sweating profusely. He had hoped to uncover something, anything, but the Ghost Shadow Division had come up empty-handed. Instead, they sent a message saying they would never take on such a mission again and then vanished without a trace. He wanted to investigate further, but their communication network had disappeared overnight, making any contact impossible. That was the nature of the Ghost Shadow Division—an organization that operated in a strictly compartmentalized manner, taking on assignments and executing them. If they sensed any threat to the organization, they vanished like ghosts.
In the end, Deung Bu-hyeong was left with nothing but a hefty bill. He couldn’t even begin to guess why the Ghost Shadow Division had disappeared so suddenly.
Cheon Sae-myung pressed his temples with his fingers. “So, are you saying that person really took care of the Ghost Shadow Division?”
Yeon Jin, who had been quietly listening, chuckled. “Ha! That’s unlikely. I don’t know what trick he used, but there’s definitely something more to it.”
“What if he realized we were watching him?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, what if he figured out we were keeping tabs on him?”
“No way. If that were the case, knowing Sa Bi-gang’s personality, he wouldn’t have stayed quiet. He would have turned the academy upside down, making a fuss about being spied on.”
“Exactly. That guy has always been inflexible, to the point where you can’t reason with him.”
“Hmm, true.”
Cheon Sae-myung nodded, seemingly convinced. Yeon Jin quickly added with a smile, “Don’t worry too much. I’ve already made some arrangements just in case. With those cadets, we won’t need to intervene directly.”
“So, formal classes start tomorrow, then.”
“Indeed. I’m actually looking forward to it. I’m curious to see how Sa Bi-gang will handle things.”
Deung Bu-hyeong found his smile again, joining in the conversation. “I might just have to go and cheer them on. Haha.”
After a long-awaited hot bath, Sa Bi-gang returned to his room and began drying his hair. A faint hum emanated from Berthas, the sword resting on his bed, as if aware of Sa Bi-gang’s presence. Sa Bi-gang trudged over and picked up Berthas, scabbard and all.
“Stop whining. You’ve had enough to eat.”
But Berthas continued to tremble slightly, undeterred.
“Tch, stubborn as always.”
Sa Bi-gang tossed Berthas back onto the bed and sat cross-legged beside it. On his way back, he had killed every beast he encountered to satiate Berthas’s thirst for blood. Yet, the sword seemed unsatisfied with mere animal blood, continuing to emit its faint cries.
‘Looks like I’ll have to suppress it with mana for now.’
To do that, he needed to acclimate his body to mana. Sa Bi-gang let out a shallow sigh, closing his eyes and ears, focusing solely on his breathing and energy flow.
‘I’ve got to harmonize mana and internal energy as quickly as possible.’
Currently, the mana he had absorbed was settled in his lower dantian in the form of internal energy. Sa Bi-gang slowly circulated this energy through his body’s meridians. Soon, the abundant energy completed a full cycle through his body, invigorating him.
‘The real challenge starts now!’
He clenched his fist tightly. The process of converting internal energy into mana was next. He began to draw the energy flowing through his body toward his heart, feeling as if his chest was being encased in a thick armor.
‘It’s building up. It’s building up.’
Finally, when all the internal energy was concentrated in his middle dantian, his body shuddered violently, almost as if he were having a brief seizure. After a moment, he exhaled deeply and opened his eyes, sweat beading on his forehead.
This was training to convert a significant amount of internal energy into mana in a short time. Until recently, he had performed such energy circulation as naturally as breathing in the Demon Realm. But now, having returned to the past, he had to retrain his body. Despite this, he was adapting at an astonishing pace, his decades of experience rewarding him.
Converting mana back into internal energy was much easier. ‘In that sense, the flow of mana is indeed more efficient.’
Sa Bi-gang stood up. Berthas, which had been grumbling incessantly, was now silent, perhaps having given up. ‘Should I call it a day and rest up for tomorrow’s class?’
Looking out the window, a peculiar sense of anticipation curled at the corners of Sa Bi-gang’s lips.
Deung Bu-hyeong rose early at dawn to sharpen his sword, his favorite time of day and his only hobby. The more he honed the blade, the more it gleamed with a crimson hue. The Purple Haze Branding Blade—a treasured sword he had received from the leader of the Heavenly Flower Trading Group last year. In exchange, he had recommended the group’s young leader, a graduate of Yongcheon Academy, to the Justice Alliance.
‘Ah, how beautiful.’
Deung Bu-hyeong admired the keen edge of the blade with a satisfied smile. He had never owned a proper sword before, so he cherished the Purple Haze Branding Blade dearly.
Swish. Swish. Swish.
‘Sharpening a blade is like honing one’s mind. What a pure and beautiful sound.’
After a long session of sharpening, Deung Bu-hyeong lifted the Purple Haze Branding Blade once more. ‘Ah, it’s so beautiful! Even my soul is captivated by you.’
The blade glowed red in the early dawn light. Though it shone most beautifully at sunset, its dawn radiance was no less impressive. As he stood there, entranced, he noticed a group of cadets heading somewhere in the distance.
‘Heh, is it starting now?’
With a thought, Deung Bu-hyeong sheathed the Purple Haze Branding Blade and stood up. “This should be an entertaining class to observe.”
A sly smile crept across his lips.
In the northeast corner of Yongcheon Academy stood an annex. The front yard was overgrown with vegetation, and stones lay scattered haphazardly. The door creaked, and the signboard hung crookedly, as if it might fall at any moment. Once, it had been used as a guesthouse for visitors to the academy. But as the academy’s reputation waned, its use dwindled, and now it stood empty, like an abandoned house.
“This is… our classroom?”
One cadet frowned at the tilted signboard. The others grumbled as they surveyed their surroundings.
“What is this? It’s just grass and rocks. How are we supposed to train in martial arts here?”
“Haha, have you ever trained in martial arts?”
“Shut up. Do you want to die?”
“Oh? Want to try me?”
As some cadets bickered, Sa Bi-gang approached the guesthouse. Someone spotted him and shouted, “Hey, it’s that instructor!”
The cadets fell silent, turning their attention to Sa Bi-gang. He scanned the group—his assigned class. He had already reviewed the roster and had a rough idea of who they were.
The Special Class. At first glance, it might sound impressive, but in reality, it was filled with troublemakers. Cadets who couldn’t adapt to the academy, those with no talent for martial arts, those who caused incidents, or those with overly prestigious backgrounds who acted arrogantly. In short, it was a class composed of the academy’s misfits, the ones who disrupted the atmosphere.
Some had been held back for years, remaining first-year students. Normally, various instructors from different departments would teach each class, but this Special Class was solely under Sa Bi-gang’s instruction.
‘They probably want to dump all the responsibility on me. Haha.’
In other words, the academy had handed over the most troublesome students, leaving Sa Bi-gang to deal with them.
‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’
Sa Bi-gang surveyed the cadets and spoke. “I’m Sa Bi-gang, your instructor from today.”
“Why do we have to learn here?” It was Gok Bo-ok who spoke up, his voice laced with defiance. Beside him, Yeon Woo-gyeong and a group of others glared at Sa Bi-gang with hostility. It wasn’t just them; most of the cadets gathered there looked at Sa Bi-gang with disdain.
Even the cadets openly disrespected him. That was the reputation Sa Bi-gang had until now.
Sa Bi-gang chuckled. “Well, because you’re all hopeless cases and a bunch of trash.”
The cadets were momentarily stunned. Then, a chorus of complaints erupted.
“What did he just call us? Trash?”
“Is that something an instructor should say?”
“I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t want to take classes here!”
“Yeah! An instructor should act like one!”
The room quickly descended into chaos. Watching the commotion, Yeon Woo-gyeong smirked inwardly. ‘What a mess. I don’t know how he became a full instructor, but he shouldn’t underestimate us.’
Meanwhile, Sa Bi-gang waited patiently for the uproar to subside. After a while, the cadets’ complaints began to die down. Sa Bi-gang picked his ear and spoke again.
“Are you done?”
“They’re chattier than I expected.”
“That’s because the instructor didn’t explain properly…!”
The cadet, who had been shouting, suddenly clammed up, intimidated by the piercing gaze of Sabigang.
Sabigang spoke again, his voice calm but firm. “A good teacher doesn’t need to use force to impart wisdom. I believe that. But… I also know I’m not a good teacher.”
“What do you mean by that…?”
“It means if you don’t listen, I won’t hesitate to knock some sense into you. So, you’d better behave. One thing’s for sure: if you follow me, you’ll definitely become stronger.”
His eyes deepened with resolve. ‘And I won’t lose another follower ever again.’
The cadets were left gaping, bewildered by his audacity and seemingly baseless confidence. Where did such arrogance come from?
Just then, a clear voice rang out from a corner of the room. “Instructor! I have a question!”
The tone was polite and respectful. Sabigang turned to see Yeon Woo-kyung, who continued with a smile, “There’s a saying: ‘A spear in a hundred days, a sword in a thousand, a blade in ten thousand.’”
“And?”
“You were teaching spear techniques until recently, as an assistant instructor, no less. Yet, overnight, you’ve become the main instructor for swordsmanship. Can sword skills really improve so quickly?”
It was a pointed question, and the cadets murmured in agreement, their curiosity piqued.
Sabigang chuckled. “Normally, it’s impossible.”
“So, you’re saying you’re not normal?”
“Exactly. Consider yourselves lucky to learn from me.”
“But we find it hard to believe. We want to know just how skilled you really are.”
“And what do you propose?”
“Perhaps you could demonstrate by sparring with the most skilled swordsman among us?”
Yeon Woo-kyung suggested with a faint smile. The cadets nodded, their eyes fixed on Sabigang, eager for proof.
Sabigang met Yeon Woo-kyung’s gaze, unfazed. He had anticipated this level of skepticism.
“How would you like me to prove it?”
“Well, how about a match with the best swordsman here?”
Yeon Woo-kyung’s smile widened slightly. After all, Sabigang was just a former assistant instructor for spear techniques, rumored to have gotten his position through backdoor connections.
‘Whatever trick he used to become the main sword instructor, he won’t find us easy to handle.’
Many of the cadets came from prestigious martial arts schools, some with natural talent, others already well-versed in swordsmanship. They weren’t much younger than Sabigang, either.
‘Let’s see if you can prove you’re worthy of teaching us.’
Yeon Woo-kyung watched Sabigang intently, waiting for his response.