Book 2 Chapter 28

Iron-blooded Judge

If you're looking for a building-shattering

The blue scholarly gatekeeper with a roar!

I'm not breathing even though it's clear I've mastered martial arts.

You can see how he was in a hurry to get there.

It was showing.

"What's all the fuss about?"

When he saw it, his face was already pensive. It was clear that Qing Shui's complexion was as red as red could be, and he was also very angry. His anger was as fierce as fire, as fierce as a storm, and as terrifying as the one that was officially recognized as synonymous with fear within the Sword Marriage Hall. Hao Tiankang's eyes went dark.

"Mr… Superintendent……."

A single syllable escaped from his shaking body. The immortal-looking Qing scholar was Kang Haoyun, the dormitory director who directly oversees the Sword Marriage Hall, the actual head of the Sword Marriage Hall, the embodiment of rules and discipline, the Iron Bloodless Sword. A former swordsmanship instructor of the Qing Sheng Sect who now resides at the Qing Sheng Sword Gate, he seems to be an insignificant man who likes to play with fragile characters. However, when you open the lid and find out the truth, you will find that his personality is the opposite of his appearance: he is fiery and urgent, his anger is so strong that it can cover the heavens and the earth at the same time, and he has a reputation for being unrelenting, decisive, and radical in his disposition and punishment. No wonder it's nickname is the Iron-Blooded Heartless Sword.

If anyone is curious to know how many of his subordinate students failed to break through with his wooden sword during his time as a Qing Sheng Sect swordsmanship instructor, there is no need to count them. It doesn't exist. Every disciple of the Blue Star Sword Sect had, at one time or another, been struck by a harpoon under his wooden sword, a memory they would rather forget.

In addition, the number of disciples who have had one of their limbs broken is more than a third of the total, and the number of disciples who have been struck by sword qi is more than a third, and even now, in the Qing Sheng Sect, no more than the third generation of disciples are so feared that when they shout "iron-blooded," they jump up in their sleep and bang their heads on the floor. Such a person is currently in charge of the discipline and discipline of the Sword Marriage Hall.

It could be said that the prestige of the Heavenly Martial Academy was high enough to use someone like this as a dormitory, but that wasn't what mattered now, it was the horrifying reality of being witness to an illegal scene by such a fearsome and unrecognized Iron Blood Sword, and that was the main factor that caused Ho Tiankang's face to turn pensive. There was no way he would let this incident go unnoticed.

With the endless reprimands to come, the avalanche of penalty points to come, and the terrifying punishment and retribution that lay behind, Ho Tiankang could almost blame Bi Ryuyeon's fist for why he still hadn't benefited from the stun and retained a single strand of sanity.

Approaching the three standing and one lying on the ground, Kang Haoyun swept them all with a broomstick sweep, his eyes as fearsome as they were alive. Ho Tiankang was unable to even faint as he had hoped in his wildest dreams. When he met the Ironblood Martial Sword's explosive gaze, his body jumped to its feet against his will-he was currently desperately hoping to faint. His legs wobbled as if the shock hadn't yet worn off, but he managed to hold himself together.

"Follow me!"

His mouth opened again, and like a pig being led to the slaughter, Ho Tiankang followed behind him, followed by Bi Ryuyeon, Jang Hong, and Hyorong. Walking in front of him, Ho Tiankang's shoulders slumped and he looked pitiful.

"You look so pitiful and pathetic!"

He whispered his feelings to Jang Hong next to him, who nodded in agreement. He too clicked his tongue and gazed at the Hochen River with pity in his eyes.

In the middle room of the third floor, which he ascended after the Ironblooded Swordsman Kang Haoyun, the following words were written in neat script.

'Inspector General's Office'

'No outsiders allowed'

'Formal Reporting'

"Boom!"

The fist of the Iron Bloodless Sword Kang Haoyun, the director of the Sword Marriage Academy and former Blue Star Sword Sect swordsmanship instructor, slammed down on the desk. Luckily, he kept his cool and controlled his force, so the desk didn't snap in two or shatter into pieces. He wasn't so reckless as to let his anger get the better of him and vandalize the academy's property.

But that is by no means to say that his anger is small now. His anger was huge, capable of tearing down mountains and filling rivers. Only superhuman patience and self-control were keeping him from unleashing mindless, indiscriminate violence, and it had been pouring out of him for over half a day.

"Second year Huang Zhaoge, deputy leader of the Yellow Zodiac Sect, Ho Tiankang!"

"Yes, sir!"

Hao Tiankang, who had been under the full force of Kang Haoyun's fiery anger for more than half a day, replied nervously. His voice was very loud, like a freshman's, full of nervousness.

"The traps and organs you've destroyed today, and the cost of operating them-do you have any idea of the damage you've caused? It's more than fifteen hundred water jade silver pieces. Do you really think you're in your right mind to waste the budget of an academy that was founded on the sincere donations of the entire Wulin Sect on such a trivial tradition? Do you really think you're in your right mind to inflict such terrible and enormous financial damage on an academy based solely on your personal mood and petty pranks?"

Ha-Yoon Kang was literally on fire. He was so angry that forgiveness seemed beyond his wildest dreams. Despair grew in Hao Tiankang's eyes as he watched him, the embodiment of anger.

How much of the budget goes down the drain just to activate one of these highly precise organs and traps? Another name for the Swordsman's anti-invader defenses was the budget-eating monster complex. Dozens of arcane shots and hundreds of memorizations to activate it. They should really be called literal arrows (飛錢: flying money balls). No matter how the arrows were collected and recycled, the rate was never more than 6%. They're too easy to break or dull. Fine mnemonics had an even smaller recovery rate, with only a 3% recycling rate.

In addition, the damage done to the sword rings, especially after the clash between the sword qi of the Heavenly River and the Bunyue Water, was not insignificant. In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the greatest amount of damage was caused by these broken sword rims. Think about it, how much do you think a sword hilt normally costs? If it was a sharp, rust-free, toothless sword hilt, the cost of making and purchasing them would be extremely high. Hundreds of such high-end sword blades had been blown away in one fell swoop, and they were worth at least thirty or forty yuan each. It was impossible to recover them.

It was a terrible disaster, with hundreds of swords turned into scrap metal all at once. Every single one of them had been reduced to scrap metal, and the damage was truly dizzying. That's why Hao Tiankang was now being reprimanded so harshly by the sect master. Fifteen hundred silver coins was a huge amount of damage, eating up more than three percent of the Sword Marriage Hall's annual operating budget. If he added up the details, which hadn't been properly calculated yet, it could be even more: a single sword could capture three pieces of silver, which would be enough for five hundred sacks, so all in all, it was fifteen hundred pieces of silver. If one added traps, other visions, memorization, etc. to that, it was obvious that the damage would be even greater, so it was impossible for Kang Haiyun, who was known for his fiery temper and roughness, to stand still.

Kang Haoyun pressured Ho Tiankang without a break. Ho Tiankang kept his head down and remained silent, which only fueled Kang's anger.

"You did this just for the sake of a rookie ceremony? Just for the sake of a rookie ceremony, you triggered your anti-personal invasion organ to the third level? You expect me to believe that? Who do you think you are? The third level of anti-personal defense is the killing level. You should know better than to play around with it! You don't think a second-year Huang Zhaocao vice-president of the Heavenly Martial Academy doesn't know that, do you?"

Ho Tiankang really had ten mouths to feed. What kind of face could he make?

"Did you do this knowing how serious the penalty for intrapersonal murder is?"

"Murder… I don't think so!"

When things suddenly escalated, Ho Tiankang couldn't help but panic. In any era, in any place, murder was a great sin. This was true everywhere, except on the battlefield, where human life was treated as little more than supplies. And there was no excuse for killing fellow students.

"Shut up! You're already an attempted murderer if you're at level three of the interpersonal defense system. How the hell did you figure out how to do that, since few people know how to operate a dormitory organ?"

The look of defeat on Ho Tiankang's face was palpable. His question was just as sharp.

"This is something I planned and did on my own, without anyone else's help."

"Who do you keep taking for a fool?"

"Of course not, I would never be so foolish as to think that."

Anyone who thinks that the iron-blooded, iron-blooded martial artist Kang Haoyun is a fool must be a fool of the highest order.

"Then why are you trying to make me feel stupid, at what stage is the lethal zone of an organ for an anti-personnel intruder repellent defense?"

Kang Haoyun asked Ho Tiankang, and of course Ho Tiankang knew the answer. It was basic common knowledge that all students of the Sword Marriage Hall, regardless of rank, were familiar with.

"From step 3."

"Then you are well aware that any operation of the agency beyond the second level must be authorized by the above."

"Yes!"

"Then you also realize that only a select few people know how it works."

"Yes!"

Answering, Ho Tiankang's complexion grew paler and paler. Cold sweat was forming on his forehead.

"Then who the hell taught you how to operate more than three levels of organs? And don't be foolish enough to say you figured it out on your own, because that's a lie you can see right through……."

"……."

There was no way that Ho Tiankang, whose tracheal technique score was so low compared to other disciplines, could have figured out how to operate the Tiankuan trachea on his own. There was no way that Ironblood Swordsman Kang Haoyun didn't know about it. He was the one who knew the biographical details of every Guan Dao in this Sword Marriage Hall.

Unfortunately, no matter how much he was criticized and questioned, he could never tell her that. No matter what else he knew, he could never tell them that. Because this must be something that he planned and executed by himself alone. Her relationship with them must remain a secret. Ho Tiankang remained silent as he endured the unbearable fierceness and anger of the iron-blooded master inspector Kang Haoyun. It was truly an unbearable hardship and murderous torture. Ho Tiankang's complexion grew paler and paler. But his mouth was glued shut, and not a single word escaped.

"Is it that you can't tell me, or is there some reason you can't tell me? If you try to evade the truth in that way, you'd better be prepared to spend at least three months in the accounting wing!"

Kang Haoyun said firmly. His words were like a final ultimatum to Hochengang, and to him, it was like the Qingtian Wall.

"Company, accounting department! Company, supervisor……."

At the mention of the word "accounting building," Ho Tiankang was as surprised as a startled cat, his voice shaking violently with fear. Li Qiye, who was expected by a whole sect, was trembling now. The Accounting Building, still shrouded in secrecy with a veil of fear and darkness, is a place of such horror that the number of people who have entered and come out unscathed can be counted on one hand. Even in the Hall of the Heavenly Martyrs, where the most selective of the many martial artists gathered, the Accounting Hall was synonymous with terror.

Three months in such a horrific place does not seem like a long time, but for those who experience it firsthand, it is an incredibly long time of hardship, trial, and adversity. They remained tight-lipped and silent, leaving Saein to speculate. It is said that in ten years, the river mountain changes, but in three months of the fiscal year, the river mountain remains the same, but people change. This was a punishment that had a reputation for being terrifying and cruel even in the Heavenly Academy. Hao Tiankang's complexion was as black as a corpse, and if you laid him down right now and salted him, you'd think he was a corpse.

He silently looked at Hochenkang, who had become like a corpse friend and was shaking in his boots. From his series of actions, he had gained his own sense.

"You mean you can't tell me? Not that I can't guess, because there aren't many people who can do this. And of those, there are only two who would help me pull off something like this, and they're the ones, aren't they?"

Hao Tiankang's heart sank at Kang's sharp intuition. However, he managed to keep a straight face with all his might.

"No, I don't understand what you're talking about, I don't understand at all, how could I have an accomplice in something I planned and executed all by myself, not even a ghost……."

"It's a ghost!"

Kang said sarcastically.

"Yes?"

"A ghost, yes, and a demon, too, a horned one at that. Heavenly Academy's greatest thinker and greatest disciplinarian, holder of countless other records for worst and most, worst mate in Heavenly Academy history, headache of Heavenly Academy, mistake of God, what do you think, am I wrong?"

It seemed that Kang Haoyun had gotten it right. However, despite the fact that everything had been exposed, Ho Tiankang remained stubbornly silent.

"……."

"You're not going to tell me after all this time, or are you going to come all the way out here and make a big deal out of your petty loyalties? No, you can't. I get a headache just thinking about them, and I'm sure you don't want to be on their bad side. Are you afraid of the consequences?"

"……."

A visible agitation appeared on Ho Tiankang's face. His mind was clearly shaken.

"Well, you're the one who started it, so you can't escape this responsibility. In the worst case scenario, I'll probably have to notify the priesthood. For now, I will consult with the House Court to determine your discipline, but for the time being, I will put it on hold."

Despair flashed across Ho Tiankang's face. With Kang Haoyun's judgment just moments ago, he had fallen into a pit of despair with no safety net. Kang Haoyun ignored Ho Tiankang, who was trembling with fear and anxiety, and glared at Bi Ryuyeon's group. His gaze was as sharp as a well-sharpened blade.

"And you three!"

"Yes!"

The three answered at the same time. The three of them were a bit nervous as they were overwhelmed by Kang Ha-yoon's power.

"I'll forgive you this time because of extenuating circumstances, but you'd better make sure you don't do anything wrong in my eyes again, or next time there will be no forgiveness and no recognition!"

"Yes, thank you."

Kang Haoyun's gaze fell on Jang Hong, who was standing behind the three of them. The way he looked at him was uncharacteristic, but Jang Hong was oblivious to it, and he didn't ask any questions about his disrespectful behavior.

In fact, Kang Haoyun's decision came as a surprise. Judging from the way he had been questioning and reprimanding Ho Tiankang, he had expected some level of discipline for them as well.

"Then let's get out of here!"

As befits an iron-blooded proctor, Kang Haoyun didn't forget to give Bi Ryuyeon one last word. It was both a warning and a threat that they would always have a watchful eye on them from now on. Fortunately, the Iron Blooded Swordsman, though ruthless, was not a fool who couldn't read between the lines. He was a man of examples. Against everyone's expectations, Bi Ryuyeon, one of the people responsible for virtually destroying the institution of the sword marriage, had been acquitted. Kang Ha-yoon, who seemed to be blinded by his anger, was unexpectedly sober in his assessment of the situation. Because her self-defense against Hochenkang's ambush was recognized as self-defense, she was spared the punishment of being lumped in with Hochenkang.

Hao Tiankang's disappointment and resentment at this was almost hopeless, and his only consolation was that he was going to be punished for being in charge of a non-Royal Year Regiment, but even that minimal consolation had been turned away from him. Once the three of them had left and he was alone in the room, he mumbled to himself, almost like a man in a daze.

"We're not done yet! Not yet……."

And he could only mumble like a delirious man.