Book 1 Chapter 13

Hell's Training Camp

Hell has already begun.

But no one seemed to notice.

And when time passed and I realized it was a hellhole, I started using the

You're already in the middle of a deep hole that you can't get out of.

I despaired when I found out.

It's a summer day, the sun is blazing overhead, the heat is scorching the earth, and the cicadas hiding in the forest are chirping so loudly that the whole forest seems to be going away. A group of men and women were trudging along a path in the middle of a dense forest.

Two young men were walking at the head of the group, chatting with each other as they hurried along, as if they were enjoying their freedom. One of them was wearing a white robe with a blue dragon embroidered on it, and the young man next to him was wearing a calm and quiet blue robe with a blue dragon embroidered on the sleeve. The man in the blue robe with the blue dragon on his sleeve spoke to the man in the white robe who was walking alongside him on the mountain path. From the way they spoke, it was clear that they were friends.

"Hey, South Palace. Are we there yet?"

"We should be there soon. It's been a while since we climbed the mountain."

"Anyway, I hope we get to our destination soon, if only to escape this stifling weather. Look at all this sweat. I feel like I'm taking a bath in sweat right now."

"Hahaha, I agree."

A young man in white robes wiped the sweat from his brow and smiled brightly. The young man's name was Namgungsang. After exchanging these few words, Nam Gongsang, who had been climbing up the mountain in silence, broke the silence that had been holding him back and spoke to his close friend, Hyun Yun, one of his fellow Nine Dragons and the current number one late-stage cultivator of the Shaman Sect.

"Hey, Hyunwoon, what are you taking for liberal arts this semester, and have you signed up for it?"

"Oh, that's right, I'll be taking "Understanding Old Master Thought and Philosophy" and "Understanding Thought and Man" and a second language for the literary side, and "The Use of the Sword" and "Twin Swords" for the martial side. What about you?"

"Ho-ho, that's great, a very Taoist wannabe's choice. I'll be taking Understanding Confucian Thought, Zhongyong Commentary and Understanding the Universe, and Mandarin Chinese as a second language. For the martial arts side, I'll be taking the Flying Sword and the Way of the Sword. What will you be taking as a second language, Hyun-woon?"

"Oh, I signed up for Mandarin, just like you. It's the most popular second language, with the most enrollments and the best prospects."

"But Mandarin is a difficult subject, and it's hard to get good grades……. By the way, I heard that your marks were quite high this time. Rumors have spread around the academy. You must have been practicing hard."

"Haha, it's inevitable. Namgung, there's a rumor in the hall that you have a very high rating as well, are you kidding me?"

"Maybe so, but this time I didn't get a very good grade in Master Shim Nosa's Principles of Martial Arts. Isn't he the one with the reputation for making up grades?"

"Hee hee, I don't expect to do so well in Mr. Kang's Theory of Ancient Confucian Thought. That teacher's nickname is also cheapskate. So salty, so salty. You should never listen to his lectures. I regret it, I regret it."

"Hoo-hoo, I will. I'll take your advice, and I won't lose to you this time. I'll take the win."

"Well, you better watch out. Do you know how many sleepless nights I've had because I was outranked in the last evaluation? I'm looking forward to a better night's sleep this time."

"This is an unimaginable statement coming from the mouth of a disciple of the Wudang Sect of the First Taoist of the New Zhou Dynasty, who advocates cutting off worldly ties and seeking only the truth. Hahaha!"

"Is it? Hahaha!"

Hyun-woon was slightly humbled by Namgung-san's playful words. Nam Gongsang, the second son of the Nam Gongsang family, one of the most prominent martial families, and Hyun Yun, the second generation disciple of the Shaman Sect, had always been fierce competitors among the second-year students of the academy. It was quite curious to see them getting along so well despite being such fierce competitors. Behind them, the voices of lively women could be heard discussing which teachers were good at teaching, which teachers made them sleepy, and which subjects were worth taking. It was a clear voice, full of excitement and full of life.

"Wow, Gene Sojae is still going strong after all these years, he must be so happy."

Hearing the chattering behind him, Hyun-woon smiled at Namgung-sang. Immediately after hearing that their training location that day was Amishan, the Qin Clan's vaunted Sokka disciple was as lively as a girl running around in a dream.

"It must be Amishan, who has returned after many years. You must be happy. Wouldn't you be happy if your training camp was on Mount Wudang, too? The same."

"Woohoo, right. You must feel like you're coming home. Me too……."

For a moment, Hyun-woon's voice trailed off. The darkening of his complexion suggested that he was somewhat upset that the training grounds had been decided to be an amino acid instead of a sugar mountain. The person who was enjoying the happiness at the expense of her own misfortune was the Ami Sect disciple Qin Lie, who had been laughing and moving about energetically ever since she realized that their destination was Amishan. She chatted with the women in the group, feeling more energized as the group entered the boundaries of Amishan.

But neither Jin-ryung, who was basking in the joy of returning home, nor Hyun-woon, who was a little heartbroken that the training camp was to be held at Amisan, nor anyone else had any idea of the reality that lay ahead. The time ahead will be called hell…….

How much longer did they walk up the mountain? In fact, a casual observer of their pace would have said they were running fearlessly up a rugged mountain path. As if the heavens were impressed by their diligence, the shadows of a white building emerged from the canopy of trees on top of the mountain. Finally, the group had reached their destination. Excitedly, everyone walked quickly toward the building in front of them. That's when it happened.

"Stormwater……."

Suddenly, the straight, tall tree beside the road shook violently, and a black figure descended from above. The suddenness of the figure's appearance caused the group to instantly put their hands on their sword hilts and stand on guard.

In-young was an old man who appeared to be in his 50s, with white hair and fine wrinkles on his face, but his waist and legs were too stiff for an old man, and his whole body was full of vitality and strength. At first glance, it was hard to tell that this was a 50-year-old man's body. However, on the whole, he had a featureless face despite his sudden appearance.

"Who are you?"

Namgungsang, who was in the lead, asked in a very polite tone. The fact that he didn't shout "Who are you?" showed that he had developed a great deal of mental discipline. If he had shouted "Who are you?" in a rude manner, he would not have known that something quite terrible would have happened to his statue, even if he had died and woken up.

"You've come to the right place. Welcome."

The old man greeted them in a curt, raspy voice, with a smile on his lips, a smile that he thought was kind, but that others saw as grotesque. No one was naive enough to believe that the smile was malicious, but even so, none of them realized that the voice they had just heard belonged to the man who would lead the sixteen of them to hell. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew past them. But no one could read the ominousness in it.

The sixteen members of the Southern Palace's lower master class followed the old man's gesture into the building. The building had three floors and was quite large and spacious. Above the entrance to the building hung an old-fashioned banner that read "Tianmu Army Training Center." It appeared to be well-maintained, as nothing was particularly worn or damaged.

The person currently in control of the Heavenly Martial Army Training Center was originally supposed to be the Iron Fence Immortal Qin Chao Yun, but that arrow of fate had long since been deflected, and the person currently in control of the place was Bi Ryuyeon, the heir to the old man who had just transformed into an elderly man, the breadwinner, and the sect's operations maintainer. His plans had so far been proceeding step by step and without incident. Right now, he was about to have a meeting with the cute little disciples he would be staying with for the next three months. A thin smile still lingered at the corners of his mouth. However, this sinister smile, which was directed at certain people, was hidden by a piece of bast cotton, and no one recognized it.

"I don't have a name. No, don't think I do."

These were the first words that Bi Ryuyeon spoke to the 16 members of Jujak.

"……?"

The seated members of the troupe stared at Bi Ryuyeon with distant eyes. They couldn't help but eagerly question his words. As they stood there dumbfounded, unable to express their questions, Bi Ryuyeon made another bombshell announcement. This time, the bombshell was easier to understand than the previous one, but it had the power to surprise people even more.

"Nobu's face right now is not a real face, because I'm wearing a shell called a bast face."

Some of the students in the class sat up on their haunches and looked surprised. No wonder they were surprised that the teacher who was supposed to teach them was now wearing a fake face.

"Are you surprised? Huh, you're right to be surprised, and now I'm going to tell you why Nobu wore this bast noodle shell and referred to himself as the Nameless One."

She's not old, she's not even 20 yet (she's 19!), and now she's abusing the word nobu, which means she's abusing her vocabulary, using it sometimes and sometimes not, using it when she shouldn't, and not using it when she should. This was also evidence that Bi Ryuyeon was not yet a complete fraudster. Although he claimed to be devoted to a single discipline (the art), two months was still a short period of time to fully read, understand, master, and apply the deep and wide world of Chinese comics. However, as of yet, no one had noticed, so Bi Ryuyeon's fraudulent activities could continue unhindered.

"This has all been brought about by my high educational considerations. Given my present status and position as an old man, I have very close ties with many families and sects. There are some among you who know me very well. However, I do not wish to grant personal favors to any particular individual among you because of these connections. Learning is a fair game. Therefore, I have hidden my face and concealed my name in order to be fair in this teaching. Although I have concealed my face and name, if any of you should happen to recognize the identity of the poisonous weapon or the martial artist who is thought to be my servant, let them remain ignorant. The ties between me and you that were forged in the past are dissolved by the boundaries of this moment, and all that remains between me and you is the bond of priestly brotherhood. Know this. I am a stranger to you, with whom you have no relationship, with whom you have never met. What happens next is all up to you. You are to address me only as Master from now on. Do you understand? I am your master and nothing else."

"Yes, Master!"

Everyone recited in a thunderous voice. Bi Ryuyeon couldn't believe how good it sounded in her ears. Her whole body felt like it was going to explode. She especially emphasized the word master. It was no wonder, as this word was one of the biggest reasons why she had embarked on this plan.

Fiery words spewed from the fake teacher's mouth, and a booming voice replied. If people in the know had seen it, they would have asked in amazement, "What the hell did he put on his tongue to make it so flexible? Some of the more naïve members of the 16-person troupe had already fallen victim to the fiery, volcanic speech, and their eyes glowed with a deep impression.

As soon as she met them, she revealed the fact that she was wearing a bast face mask, which was one of her advanced (?) social skills. By letting them know that she was wearing a bast cotton ball, she was able to avoid any danger that might come her way. This was a sophisticated trick of deception in which one's weaknesses are revealed to the public in advance, and the weaknesses are avoided.

If she were to teach people while hiding the fact that she was wearing a bast face mask. If she made a mistake, or if someone was shrewd enough to realize she was wearing a bast mask, they would ask her why she was deceiving them by wearing a bast mask, and she wouldn't be able to say something like, "I was just bored……." or something like that. Now, if she were to teach them while wearing a bast mask and hiding her identity, it would be an act of fundamental weakness. However, if she can convince them from the beginning with logical reasons why she is teaching them while hiding her name and wearing a bast mask, they will have no objection to her wearing a bast mask later on. If a third party comes along and asks, "Why are you teaching people while wearing a bast mask and hiding your identity?" she can simply say, "What's the point, I've already taught everyone why!" and that will be the end of it.

The fact that she had already been exposed was no longer a weakness. What's more, she's already succeeded in gaining the respect of some of the kids by making a great speech about it. As she watched them stare at her with wide-eyed admiration-an optical illusion, if ever there was one-she realized that her two months of hard work had paid off. In her excitement, she pumped her fist in the air, thinking that even a monkey could do it.

After catching her breath, she continued with a calmer expression and voice.

"So, let's give each other a moment of introductions, and you can start by introducing yourself."

The tip of Bi Ryuyeon's index finger pointed at the face of the man sitting in front of her. Upon receiving the nomination, Namgung-san stood up and began to introduce himself in a gruff voice. He was the epitome of a typical schoolboy.

"I am Namgungsang, the second son of the Namgung family, and I am the current head of the Zhu Jia Clan. I look forward to your guidance in the future."

Namgungsang concluded his introduction with a polite example of tyranny. It was a greeting that seemed to set an example of how to do things. Of course, after receiving such a polite and respectful greeting, Bi Ryuyeon's mood seemed to plummet. It was a pleasant surprise.

Beginning with the head of the Southern Palace, the members of the Zhu Jiajia began to introduce themselves one by one. Indeed, the group was an eclectic collection of people from all walks of life and different schools of thought. There were nine male disciples, including the Wudang Sect disciple Shen Yun, the third son of the Sichuan Tang Clan's Tang Chuling, the Qingcheng Sect disciple Cheng Wen, the Huashan Sect disciple Zhao Tianwu, the K'un-Lun Sect disciple Li Zhiyong, the Shaolin Sect disciple Cackling Crane, the only son of the Kumho Merchants' Association, the largest merchants' association in the Martial Kingdom, the open-minded disciple Algernon Liu, and Nam Gongsang, The female disciples were seven in number, including Tang Wenhui, the second daughter of Tang Wenmen of Sichuan and the sister of Tang Chuling; Jin Ling, a disciple of the Ami school; Nan Gongshan, the eldest daughter of the Nan Gongsheng family and the twin sister of Nan Gongsheng; Dan Moxu, the eldest daughter of the Dan Moxu family; Mo Yongqu, the only daughter of the Mo Yong family; Huashan, a disciple of the Huashan school; and Huang Bo, the eldest daughter of the Huang Bo family.

"Oops!

Bi Ryuyeon couldn't help but frown as she looked at the gender ratio of the main cast. Whoever had organized this group at the Heavenly Martial Academy was an idiot? There were seven women to every nine men, and the men outnumbered the women by two to one. It was a perfect ratio for accidents to happen during the training camp. In order to prevent such an unimaginably unpleasant situation, the number of women should have been at least equal to the number of men, or at least equalized. Of course, an even number is just as dangerous, but it's better than nothing. The fact that the boys outnumbered the girls by not one, but two, was the worst possible configuration.

"……."

Bi Ryuyeon could only click her tongue in regret. It was now up to her to control the wolf's nature, which rose up whenever the moon was up, or even when the moon was not. Therefore, it was necessary to put shackles on the energetic and dangerous wolf, a very heavy shackle…….

"Well, well, well, it's good to see you, and now you and I have a temporary priestly bond. Temporary, yes, but when it comes to learning, once a master, always a master. I am your eternal teacher, and you are my eternal students. If you have been taught anything by anyone, you have already established a priestly bond that cannot be broken, so keep this in mind, do you understand?"

"Yes, Master!"

"Hehehe, yes, yes. In honor of this, I will give each of you a gift and a souvenir. Accept them gratefully."

With superhuman patience, she swallowed the words, "It cost a lot of money," down the back of her throat. The entire troupe's faces lit up with joy at the thought of a gift. After all, who doesn't like free stuff? She lifted the lid of the large box beside her. It was a plain box, made of plain wood, with no patterns or decorations. At first glance, it was indeed a plain box, but the items inside were anything but plain or ordinary.

Inside the black box were dozens of inky black bracelet-like silk circles, identical to the silk dragon circles currently on Bi Ryuyeon's wrist. The only difference was that they didn't have an embossed dragon on them. This was because they were mass-produced, and it would have been unreasonable to include a dragon carving.

She distributed four of these rosaries to each member of the main cast. There were 16 members of the main cast, so there were 64 rosaries in the box. To make these 64 rosaries, Bi Ryuyeon had to invest two months of her time and five gold coins. After making them, she realized that they weren't cheap, and she smiled wryly. As a bonus, he also made two iron axes and three steel laundry bats made of cast iron. Half of the budget had been blown. She doubted she'd ever get them back.

After receiving the four rosaries each, the members of the Zhujiajie were stunned. Screams of various kinds, such as "Yuck!", "Yuck!", and "Woof!", erupted from all around them. The weight of the four rosaries they had unwittingly accepted was beyond their imagination, and they immediately felt a pain as if their shoulders were falling off. Although these silk wands weren't as heavy as Bi Ryuyeon's silk dragon wands, they were still a tremendous gift, each weighing fifty muscles and four weighing two hundred muscles, so it was no wonder that everyone was white-faced and stunned.

Looking at her students, who were as stunned as she had been when she first received the rosary, she smiled a smile of conversion. This was just the beginning.