Reincarnation of the Cloud Dragon - Chapter 6

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This chapter is translated by Falnar Novels Team.
Support us by reading on our official site: https://falnarnovels.com
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Chapter 6.
A simultaneous assault from both sides.
Both hands gripping the cliff face.
Effectively bound, helpless.
‘…There’s nowhere to escape!’
Truly, utterly trapped.
An ordinary child would have inevitably plummeted.
Yet Yun Cheon’s eyes gleamed with an icy brilliance even in the face of crisis.
His senses, honed by crossing the threshold between life and death countless times, had already perfectly deciphered their killing intent and shallow breathing.
‘If I block one, my center collapses. If I hold firm, my strength isn’t enough. Then…!’
In that fraction of a second, a near-mad stratagem flashed through my mind.
Slip—
Just before the hands extending from both sides could touch my body.
I deliberately released the cliff.
“What…!”
“You… you madman!”
The two children’s eyes widened in shock.
They had anticipated I would resist or dodge, never imagining I would let go and fall.
But that wasn’t the end.
The very instant my body began plummeting below the cliff!
Snap—!
Like a hawk snatching prey, my two hands shot out.
And seized both children’s wrists with perfect precision.
“Ugh!”
“What the—?!”
In that instant, my entire weight bore down upon their arms.
The force of my descent added to the pull, dragging them downward with brutal strength.
The balance of the two children, who had been supporting themselves on one arm to attack, crumbled helplessly.
“Ah… ahhh?”
“Aaaahhhhh—!”
The two children’s anguished screams echoed through the gorge as they plummeted rapidly away.
But only two fell.
I did not fall with them.
I used the recoil from dragging them down to propel my body upward.
Kunlun’s foremost lightness technique.
Nay, a discipline worthy of being called the supreme art under heaven.
A wondrous movement that, like a dragon soaring between clouds, harnesses the body’s rebound force.
‘Fortunately, without inner energy, no one would notice this….’
The mysteries of the Cloud Dragon Eight Forms unfolded through my body in that instant.
In that brief moment, I twisted both hands into the rock crevices, anchoring myself!
Crack—!
A searing pain tore through me as my fingernails splintered and skin ripped open.
Yet I didn’t so much as whimper, anchoring my body perfectly against the cliff face.
“Wait, what? They’re actually falling apart!”
“Are these idiots blind? They lost their balance mid-attack.”
The trainees watching the scene never suspected I’d done anything at all.
Only a handful of the instructors caught that I’d employed some technique.
‘Could it be… he pulled both children down while using the recoil to anchor himself?’
Those instructors’ eyes gleamed with astonishment and intrigue.
‘To maintain balance in mid-air and snatch that outcropping with such precision…’
Chuk Mu Gwang’s eyes widened noticeably.
‘…So he’s not just talk after all!’
The audacity to release the cliff with his own hands—madness incarnate.
The ingenuity to launch upward using two falling bodies as a springboard.
And the divine skill to balance himself in empty air and seize that outcropping with perfect accuracy.
A satisfied smile curved the lips of the instructor who’d provoked the reckless gambit.
‘It wasn’t Ma Chung’s carelessness that caused this… this boy has something special!’
‘I nearly let a raw gem slip through my fingers. Before other factions notice, I need to bring him into our fold!’
The eyes of several instructors watching me blazed with undisguised greed.
“…Hah. That leaves nine. The test is concluded! You may all release your grip.”
At those words, the remaining children clinging to the cliff finally let go in unison.
The waiting instructors materialized like wind, snatching their bodies from the air.
Yalü Hee, who had been watching the entire spectacle with bated breath, now stared with eyes wide in disbelief.
‘He released the cliff with his own hands and dropped two people simultaneously…! That’s quite impressive!’
Her initial contempt for my skeletal frame and cunning had completely reversed upon witnessing the test.
Her sharp lips parted slightly without her realizing it.
‘And that bizarre body control… how on earth did he manage that? I wouldn’t even dare attempt it…!’
How many could display such ingenuity with a scrawny frame that appeared to have learned no martial arts whatsoever?
Her gaze toward me shifted—contempt replaced by waves of intense curiosity that rippled through her eyes.
‘That boy…! I need to keep watching him!’
With the test concluded, I prepared to descend carefully to the ground.
Just then, an instructor approached and steadied my arm.
‘This boy’s judgment and reflexes are extraordinary. His frame is lean, but that makes him all the more suited to our Shadowless Kill Sect!’
His touch was surprisingly gentle, unlike how he handled the other children.
The instructor leaned close to my ear, his voice barely audible.
“Remarkable courage, little one. You have real talent. You’re definitely a hidden blade worth wielding.”
Greed flickered in the instructor’s eyes.
Yet even in that brief support and conversation, I felt my body screaming in protest.
‘To be this exhausted from such minimal exertion… what a pathetic body this is.’
From hanging so long, extreme fatigue crushed down upon my entire frame.
At that moment, Chuk Mu Gwang, who had overseen the examination, stepped forward and made his declaration.
“Hehehehe… I shall grant the highest qualifications to the nine who have passed the test, as promised.”
Finally, Yun Cheon was officially evaluated as the highest grade.
“Consider it an honor. You are now admitted to Qian Mo Cave, where we cultivate the Demonic Cult’s elite warriors. We have wasted enough time—depart immediately!”
A miraculous reversal, rising from the lowest rank.
Yet now, Yun Cheon stood at the true starting line of genuine competition.
‘Cultivate elite warriors? It seems such warriors hold a higher position than ordinary martial artists. Qian Mo Cave, then….’
The nine children who had risen to the highest grade, without a moment’s rest, were led by the instructors deeper into the interior of the Demonic Way Hall.
︙
How long had they walked?
The damp, humid corridor that seemed to stretch endlessly finally ended, and an entirely different landscape unfolded before their eyes.
A vast underground cavern.
It was an overwhelming space, as if an entire mountain had been hollowed out.
Despite being underground, luminous pearls were embedded throughout, so it was not dark.
Within it, countless stone chambers were arranged in orderly rows.
‘Quite an elaborate facility.’
At the center of the space stood a massive Training Ground, and a cool yet crystalline energy—as if the mountain’s essence had gathered here—permeated the entire cavern.
“This is Qian Mo Cave, where you will reside from now on.”
As the leading instructor spoke, the children gazed around in wonder.
But Yun Cheon’s eyes were already fixed on one place.
A group watching the newly admitted disciples with displeasure from one side of the Training Ground.
Children who had already established themselves in Qian Mo Cave.
Ornate silk martial robes, well-honed weapons, and above all, an arrogance and intense aura that flowed naturally from their bodies.
“The last dregs have arrived.”
“Is Qian Mo Cave now completely filled?”
As Qian Mo Cave grew noisy, children emerged one by one from the stone chambers.
They scrutinized the newly arrived disciples openly, as if gazing down at curiosities in a marketplace.
Contempt and mockery, mingled with a hint of curiosity.
‘Are they asserting territorial dominance?’
Then, a boy at the center of the group stepped forward.
It was Muk Ha Jin of the Snake and Scorpion Ink Family, who had previously glared at Yun Cheon while making a throat-slitting gesture.
Clear confidence was etched across his face as he wore a black battle robe.
He opened his mouth with a sneer.
“So the schemer made it this far. It seems Instructor Chuk Mu Gwang is quite lenient.”
Muk Ha Jin finished speaking and flicked his finger.
Ping—!
A small hidden needle flew silently and embedded itself directly in front of Yun Cheon’s feet.
An overt threat and warning.
‘A hidden needle, and one coated with poison at that.’
Yet it posed no threat to Yun Cheon whatsoever.
“You there! Vermin!”
Yun Cheon met Muk Ha Jin’s gaze with an unmoved expression.
‘A user of dark projectiles displaying his weapon so carelessly… Beyond mere lack of martial prowess, he’s third-rate.’
Muk Ha Jin mistook that composure for Yun Cheon’s inability to react at all.
A sneer erupted from his lips.
“See that? Hehehehe. No reaction, just flinching?”
“A wretch like him ranked supreme with us…? Pathetic.”
The children around him echoed his sentiment.
Raised in the prestigious families of the Demonic Cult, they understood instinctively.
Because of the doctrine of respecting the strong, they had to suppress those wretches who didn’t know their place and kept crawling upward uselessly—only then could they maintain their position.
“I shall observe just how far your luck carries you!”
In Yalü Hee’s eyes, watching this unfold, lay emotions far more complex than before.
‘He flinched…? No… actually, saying he didn’t move at all seems more accurate….’
Beside her, a boy leaning against a pillar observed the entire spectacle as though it were an amusing play.
A faint smile graced Yu Ha’s lips.
‘He didn’t fail to react. He chose not to. A wretch my intelligence network failed to detect beforehand… why does he interest me more than Muk Ha Jin?’
Yun Cheon, unmoved by the insulting remarks, replied with indifferent nonchalance.
“You take unnecessary interest in me. Is that a dark projectile? How crude. Displaying your technique so recklessly.”
Yun Cheon casually picked up the dark projectile Muk Ha Jin had thrown and sneered at it.
“Tch… this bastard!”
The moment Muk Ha Jin gritted his teeth and stepped forward.
“…Silence.”
A low voice that swallowed all noise in the hall reverberated through the space.
Though not shouted, that voice carried a power that dominated all present.
“….”
The rowdy crowd fell silent as if by magic.
The children’s gazes turned toward the central platform of the Training Ground.
When had he taken his position there?
A man standing motionless as stone.
A face of glacial coldness, devoid of all emotion.
Muscles taut as steel, those crude and massive fists themselves were weapons of slaughter.
‘A fist master at his peak… a different kind of pressure than Chuk Mu Gwang. Not a raging tiger, but cold steel itself.’
As Yun Cheon analyzed his opponent, the man opened his mouth.
“I am Ga Cheon Ak, the Iron Fist, your instructor who will guide your training and evaluate your martial talent henceforth.”
He surveyed the children briefly, then continued in an icy tone.
“You seem content with merely being selected as supreme. Do not deceive yourselves. You are merely classified as slightly superior pebbles among thousands of stones.”
At Ga Cheon Ak’s gesture, a massive stone wall on one side of the Training Ground split open with a heavy rumble.
Within appeared a practical and functional space lined with a dozen enormous bookshelves arranged at regular intervals, meticulously designed.
Bookshelves arranged in order with nameplates reading [Basic Sword Techniques], [Basic Saber Techniques], [Basic Internal Energy Cultivation Methods].
A low exclamation escaped from among the children.
“The Soul-Stealing Sword Technique…!”
“That’s… the Seven Killing Blade Method, isn’t it!”
“The Army-Breaking Spear Technique! It’s the foundation from which all spear arts of the Demonic Cult stem.”
“There’s the Primordial Demonic Art as well. It’s no exaggeration to say all inner cultivation methods of the Demonic Cult originate from it.”
The children who had risen to the highest tier were already settling their choices, discussing the foundational martial techniques renowned within their respective clans and sects.
“Hehe, you all know well. From this moment forward, each of you will select two martial arts from the Scripture Repository.”
Ga Cheon Ak’s voice resonated throughout Qian Mo Cave.
“Typically, one would be a weapon technique to serve as your primary method, and the other an inner cultivation art to support it. Of course, the choice is yours. However, you have only one opportunity, so choose wisely.”
He swept his gaze across the children one final time and made his declaration.
“One year hence, I shall evaluate your progress through a test of martial combat. Those who demonstrate exceptional achievement will receive commensurate rewards.”
At that declaration, the children’s eyes gleamed in unison.
“Conversely, those who fail to prove themselves will be sent to the lowest ranks of this sect. Remember this well—there are thousands of children in the Demonic Way Hall who could not enter Qian Mo Cave.”

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This chapter is translated by Falnar Novels Team.
Support us by reading on our official site: https://falnarnovels.com
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