The World’s Greatest Martial Arts Instructor - Chapter 163

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 163. What Troubles Do You Have?

 

 

Gongsun Dan-gyeong was staring at the documents with an incredulous expression.

He had already read them twice.

And now he was reading them again.

‘I received reports that the aftermath of Silver River Sword Hero’s death was chaotic, but at that time I didn’t have the luxury to worry about Zhongnan’s next sect leader.’

Gongsun Dan-gyeong recalled those times.

The battlefield had been moving at a frantic pace.

It was so fierce that Silver River Sword Hero had died in battle.

Besides, choosing Zhongnan’s sect leader was Zhongnan’s business.

Though he knew there were evaluations that Ju Jae-seung lacked the capacity to be sect leader, it wasn’t something for the Jeongcheon Alliance to interfere with.

But even so, who would have thought he was this kind of person.

‘Being conscious of the previous sect leader’s grandson as a competitor and keeping him in check…’

Was he the incarnation of lust for power?

Or perhaps he knew well how to protect his own power.

His ability to eliminate future troubles was excellent, but he had no eye for reading the times.

Of all people, he was messing with someone who had entered as Ha Mu-baek’s student.

“He’s probably going to turn Zhongnan Sect upside down because of this. Good grief…”

It was troublesome.

What should he do?

Ha Mu-baek was someone who, once he set his mind to causing a ruckus, even the Alliance Leader couldn’t stop.

And that same person had personally informed him.

That he would turn Zhongnan upside down.

His head was throbbing.

‘There’s also his connection with Silver River Sword Hero.’

He knew they had fought back-to-back before.

To Ha Mu-baek, he was a comrade-in-arms.

The grandson of a comrade who died in battle.

And a student under his charge.

Given Ha Mu-baek’s personality as Gongsun Dan-gyeong understood it, it was enough reason for him to step forward.

“He’s someone with a lot of sentiment.”

Though he seemed like someone who lived completely selfishly and as he pleased, Gongsun Dan-gyeong knew part of his inner nature.

The reason Ha Mu-baek was still with the Jeongcheon Alliance was also because of such sentiment.

Weren’t the comrades and subordinates who had shared hardships with him on the battlefield still in the Jeongcheon Alliance?

Ha Mu-baek couldn’t leave them behind.

They were people who had fought together against the mortal enemies of Blood Cult and Demon Cult.

“There’s nothing I or the Alliance can really do.”

This was a matter between Ha Mu-baek and Zhongnan Sect.

Just as the Jeongcheon Alliance couldn’t interfere in choosing Zhongnan Sect’s leader, there was no reason for the Jeongcheon Alliance to interfere in their problems.

He could only watch and see what happened.

Gongsun Dan-gyeong picked up his brush.

He wrote a command order with a single brush sweep and sent it to Guyang Myeong-won.

 

***

 

Guyang Myeong-won stared blankly at the document pile in front of him.

‘How did this…’

How had things come to this point?

He quietly reviewed what had happened.

After entering Gyoryong Hall.

He had decided not to leave Ha Mu-baek’s side and followed him around.

The first place Ha Mu-baek headed to was the Director’s Pavilion.

The clerk he met there.

His name was Gi Yu-chan.

The man who had dumped this document pile on him.

Ha Mu-baek had brought him there saying he would introduce someone.

When asked to sit and chat for a moment, he had settled down, and when he came to his senses, two hours had passed.

Ha Mu-baek, who had disappeared somewhere, reappeared.

And said something absurd.

‘Can you cover for me if I turn Zhongnan Sect upside down?’

It was such a shocking story that he sent a message bird to the Alliance—no, to Cheonmok Pavilion.

After that.

Led by Gi Yu-chan who appeared again, he ended up sitting with this document pile.

“No, my job is supposed to be…”

“Senior. Didn’t you say you would help this junior because his workload is too heavy and he’s suffering greatly?”

At Gi Yu-chan’s words, Guyang Myeong-won’s bewildered gaze turned toward him.

Senior?

He had never had such a junior.

There was no connection whatsoever between Gi Yu-chan and himself.

Not from their academy origins, nor from Cheonmok Pavilion.

Guyang Myeong-won had only met Gi Yu-chan two and a half hours ago.

How had he, one of the core figures of Cheonmok Pavilion.

Ended up being dragged into this by a mere clerk handling Gyoryong Hall’s affairs?

It was absurd and bewildering.

He tried to stand up abruptly, but he couldn’t do that because of the person processing the document pile with him.

The Vice Director of Gyoryong Hall.

The Yeon Family Head’s youngest son.

Yeon Baek-jin.

‘Just what kind of place is Gyoryong Hall?’

That thought suddenly occurred to him.

From the beginning, he had been caught by Ha Mu-baek who entered Gyoryong Hall and went to the Director’s Pavilion.

When he introduced that person called Gi Yu-chan.

‘I was already caught then…’

He had planned to bother Ha Mu-baek and somehow extract information from him.

Instead, he himself had been thrown into tremendous work.

Gi Yu-chan had sorted the work like a ghost, giving him only tasks that could be handled without knowing much about Gyoryong Hall.

Ha Mu-baek watched this scene with satisfaction through the window from the space under the Director’s Pavilion eaves.

“Tsk. If you’re going to bother people, you should know you might get it back yourself. Staff Officer Gi Yu-chan, what a likeable fellow.”

Ha Mu-baek muttered quietly and headed toward his dormitory.

Not only had Gi Yu-chan thrown tremendous work at Guyang Myeong-won, but he had even finished reporting about it to the Academy Director.

In Ha Mu-baek’s opinion, the most key figure in Gyoryong Hall wasn’t the Academy Director but him.

Gyoryong Hall would function without the Academy Director, but a Gyoryong Hall without him was unimaginable.

Ha Mu-baek, who had been walking like that, stopped for a moment.

‘But that incident at Damryong Pavilion. That guy probably knows about it…’

Suddenly, those terrible dishes came to mind.

That person who knew every detail of Gyoryong Hall’s affairs couldn’t have been unaware of that fact.

How could that have been possible?

Such doubts briefly arose, but he soon resumed walking.

It was already in the past, and it had been resolved.

 

***

 

“The pride of Zhongnan.”

Baek Ri-pyeong muttered quietly.

“The pride of Zhongnan.”

Once more.

“The pride of Zhongnan.”

Yet again.

How many times had he muttered like this?

Still, no answer came.

What could be the reason the Instructor brought up these words?

Stand proudly before the name of Zhongnan.

What connection could that have with rebelling against the sect leader’s command?

It was a problem that ran counter to learning the Three Talents Heart Method.

Rebelling against the sect leader’s command meant treason.

Setting aside pride, it would become an act of betraying Zhongnan.

Therefore, as Baek Ri-pyeong, a disciple of Zhongnan, it was absolutely something he could not do.

Since the Instructor said he would not approve his withdrawal, there was no immediate need to return to Zhongnan for now, but.

“Hehe. Everyone seems to have returned, so what are you doing?”

At Wi Ji-gun’s voice holding a broom, Baek Ri-pyeong snapped back to attention.

Darkness had already descended around them.

Since Ha Seol-ran had also finished her cultivation and entered the dormitory, Wi Ji-gun had come out with a broom to do the overdue cleaning.

That’s when he discovered Baek Ri-pyeong deep in thought at the training ground.

“Ah, Elder.”

Now he knew.

That this old man was not a simple worker.

“Do you have some worry?”

Baek Ri-pyeong hesitated briefly at Wi Ji-gun’s question.

Soon his lips moved and stirred.

For some reason he didn’t understand, stories flowed out naturally at that benevolent face.

Words he couldn’t even say to his fellow team members.

“Hmm. I see. Rebelling against the sect leader’s command is treason against the sect… It’s a difficult problem indeed. There are things called hierarchy and law.”

Baek Ri-pyeong nodded at Wi Ji-gun’s words.

It was a statement that hit the core of his dilemma.

“But tell me, is the sect leader the sect itself?”

He paused at the following question.

“Is the sect leader’s command the sect’s command?”

Another question followed.

“Is refusing the sect leader’s command the same as refusing the sect’s command?”

Questions continued to follow.

It was difficult.

“The sect leader is a finite being. Though I’m not sure if the sect cannot be called eternal, there have been many sect leaders, but the sect is only one. Isn’t that right?”

Baek Ri-pyeong’s expression became complicated.

“Oh my. It seems I’ve made your worries more complicated. It’s getting cold, so go inside quickly.”

Wi Ji-gun said that and disappeared again, sweeping with his broom.

Baek Ri-pyeong trudged toward Maengryong Dormitory.

And he pondered Elder Wi’s questions.

Zhongnan is only one. But there are many sect leaders.

Is the sect leader truly Zhongnan?

Wouldn’t defying the sect leader’s command mean abandoning Zhongnan’s pride?

It was difficult.

That’s why his steps changed direction.

The Instructors’ Quarters.

He went there and stood endlessly.

His thoughts wouldn’t organize easily.

Ha Mu-baek, who was lying on his bed, frowned. It was because of the presence he felt outside the quarters.

“Sigh. How bothersome.”

Ha Mu-baek got up and came outside.

“What is it?”

Ha Mu-baek’s brief question.

“Ah. Instructor!”

Baek Ri-pyeong, who had been lost in thought, raised his head.

“Well, that is…”

Baek Ri-pyeong brought up the issue that was complicating his mind.

Ha Mu-baek couldn’t just find it bothersome. Since the one who had thrown this topic to him was his own Master.

“What do you think Grandfather meant by Zhongnan’s pride?”

The words he had thrown came back to him.

Ha Mu-baek recalled the image of the Silver River Sword Hero he remembered in response to Baek Ri-pyeong’s question.

“The path your grandfather walked would be that pride. The title of Hero isn’t given to just anyone.”

“…”

“And I never told you to defy the sect leader’s command, did I? I’m just not approving your withdrawal. You’re not the one defying the sect leader’s command.”

“?!?”

It was true.

He had just misinterpreted it.

“Tsk. A serious personality is tiresome at times like this.”

Ha Mu-baek clicked his tongue as he spoke.

A resentful expression appeared on Baek Ri-pyeong’s face.

To hear such words from the very person who had brought up pride and thrown him into this dilemma.

“Walking the righteous path, yet worrying about pressure from unjust people. That’s a worry Elder Baek Ri wouldn’t have had. He would simply advance on the right path.”

Baek Ri-pyeong’s body trembled.

He had completely misunderstood.

When the Instructor spoke of pride, it meant not to worry about unjust pressure that Zhongnan might apply.

He was telling him that since they were taking legitimate measures according to the alliance and government rules, he just needed to follow them.

“Well then, go and sleep. Don’t bother me.”

Ha Mu-baek left those words and returned to his quarters.

 

***

 

The next day.

All of Gyoryong Hall was unsettled.

It remained quiet since most of the Jamryong Corps and Waryong Corps cadets had left.

However, the atmosphere was different.

Ha Mu-baek felt it immediately from the morning.

“Is it from the Great Training Ground?”

Having identified the source of the commotion, Ha Mu-baek moved toward that place out of curiosity.

He could sense many familiar presences from the Great Training Ground as well.

“Ah, Instructor.”

Dan Mok Un-rae was the first to spot Ha Mu-baek.

Present there were the Maengryong Corps Group Seven cadets, along with Ju U-myeong, Ha Seol-ran, and Han Seol-bing.

“Elder Brother. You’ve come.”

“Yesterday you were so absorbed in cultivation that I didn’t stop by.”

Ha Seol-ran nodded slightly at Ha Mu-baek’s words.

Indeed, she had been so focused on cultivation that she hadn’t even sensed her elder brother’s presence.

“You’ve improved greatly in just a few days.”

Ha Mu-baek’s praise followed.

A bright smile appeared on Ha Seol-ran’s face.

“But what’s all this about?”

Ha Mu-baek’s question was directed at Dang Jin-san.

He was indeed the best person to ask about such matters.

“It’s the departure ceremony for the Maengryong second-year cadets.”

Dang Jin-san’s feelings seemed complicated as he answered.

They had completed all their training and were now departing for Sanwol Demon Forest.

But their departure ceremony was far too modest.

Instructor Zhuge Ming, who had taught them shield technique with passion and dedication.

He was the only one present.

Just as Ha Mu-baek was about to frown.

He sensed two presences approaching the Great Training Ground.

Academy Director Peng Do-yul and Maengryong Corps Commander Moyong Jin-ho.

Ha Mu-baek’s gaze turned to the Maengryong second-year cadets.

They were completing all their training and graduating, yet their faces were uniformly dark.

It was only natural.

The place they were heading to now was Sanwol Demon Forest.

Ha Mu-baek looked elsewhere.

A new presence was approaching the Great Training Ground.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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