< Episode 65 Ignoring the Demonstration Department (4) >
The internal performance measurement which is the beginning of the selection process for the Gold Medical Council has begun.
In the training area in front of the podium six thousand soldiers stood side by side and dozens of thick stone slabs were placed in front of them.
Chae Ho-seong of the Six Thousand Troops spoke to the cadets standing in a line of six.
“Do you see it? What lies before you is a slab made of atavistic stone.”
-Roaring!
The cadets were agitated when they heard the word “atavistic stone.”
-Hoo. There are so many atavistic stones. The imperial palace clearly has a large budget.
Mok Gyeong-un was puzzled by Cheong-ryeong’s words and asked.
-What is atavism?
-I don’t know about atavism…ah. There is no way you would know that. There are stones made by processing gemstones of specific materials so that they can withstand stress.
-Can it withstand resistance?
-okay.
-It must have been made for a purpose.
-of course. Do you think the I masters who have reached the highest level will survive if they practice in an ordinary practice room? Even the practice rooms of most prestigious samurai families or sects were made of single stone or stone stone.
-Single seating?
– Although the material and durability are lower than that of atavistic stone it can easily withstand first-class internal strength and in order to destroy it the level of internal strength must at least reach the peak of maturity.
-Hoo. Then the atavistic stone will be harder.
-of course. The atavistic stone is a stone suited for martial arts experts who practice ascending martial arts. Its durability cannot even be compared to Danseok.
In other words an atavistic stone is a stone that can withstand even the peak and transcendent strength of the stone.
Hearing this I think I understand why Cheongnyeong is surprised.
Unless they had the wealth of the imperial palace who would even dare to turn that amount of atavistic stones into stone slabs and use them for testing?
At that time Chae Ho-seong of the six thousand ho continued his words.
“Quiet! “How can you become a member of the Supreme Court if you are just this scared?”
“….”
“The test is simple. It doesn’t matter whether you use a sword or a fist. Use internal energy to create a hole at least one inch deep. Those who do not are eliminated. Do you understand?”
At those words the cadets’ complexions darkened.
The atavistic stone is a first-class horse and you can’t even make a scratch on it unless you get close to the edge.
However the level of difficulty of the test was very high as it showed traces of more than one village.
“Why is there no answer?”
“yes!!!”
The cadets responded vigorously to his urging.
The selection process began under the supervision of ministers from each ministry.
Each person came out one by one and the test was conducted one after another to mark the difference and it quickly identified those who failed and those who passed.
“Kwak In-myeong is eliminated!”
“Heojukye is eliminated!”
“I passed Hanmyeong Elementary School!”
Every time this was decided there were mixed emotions.
Some of those eliminated were disappointed and some even cried.
There were even some who could not accept the result and clamored for one more chance.
However the assistant directors Cheonhodeul dealt with this calmly.
“Did you ever think of joining the Geumwiwi with such a pitiful reputation? “Get out of here.”
“Wow.”
“If you have just reached the top level it would be better to give up early.”
“I’m so sorry.”
The boundary between the beginning and the end of the first class was clear.
Those who had just entered the first class and had the skills to do so could only leave a trace of about half a mile.
However those who are close to the climax or are about to reach the climax have clearly created more than one trace that is pleasing to the eye.
At that time someone passed by almost one and a half chin on the test.
“Joo Sangjae passed!”
‘it’s okay.’
Joo Sang-jae who made a sword mark of more than a inch and a half on the stone slab burst out in joy after being accepted.
This was because we were one step closer to the National Assembly.
Joo Sang-jae who went to the place where the successful candidates were gathered and sat in the waiting line looked at the cadets who were taking the measurements with a triumphant expression.
“I guess it’s true that the Jinuiwi is definitely the elite in the imperial palace. “The standards for selecting new recruits have to be at the top of the class.”
Seopchun stuck out his tongue in a low voice.
He heard that there were not many martial arts experts in the imperial palace in the past.
Because of this several embarrassing situations arose so the imperial palace is said to be making efforts to train martial arts experts.
Meng Wuyue who was standing behind him said to the admiring Nie Chun.
“Don’t make a fuss about something like that.”
“What does fuss mean?”
“Even if internal strength is important ultimately the core of military power is actual combat ability. “It is meaningless to try to increase the number of people who are not actually working.”
“Wow you did really well.”
If you acknowledge it in moderation it will at least add up.
Nie Chun who was clicking his tongue soon provoked Meng Wuyak.
“Since you’re so successful shall we make a light bet?”
“bet?”
“okay. “Who will leave deeper traces?”
“…What is the price?”
Nie Chun raised the corners of his mouth.
I thought that if it was this guy he would definitely accept the bet.
Even though he said no he was a guy who considered himself a rival so he quickly fell for this kind of provocation.
“I’m the loser anyway so why don’t I call the loser my brother?”
“older brother?”
From the beginning Nie Chun was older than Meng Muyak.
Of course that didn’t mean he disliked the fact that Mong Muyak usually treated him like his friend.
I just wanted to see this guy having trouble calling me brother.
“Why are you scared?”
“…Who are you saying you’re scared of?”
In the end Meng Wuyak accepted the bet.
Meanwhile it was the turn of Yan Qing a disciple of the Hwasan Sect who was one of the people the advanced cadets were paying attention to.
Yan Qing caught his breath and stabbed his sword at the atavistic stone slab.
-Poof!
The sword loaded with energy soon dug into the stone slab.
But just looking at it the depth was not normal.
At first glance it looks like it went more than two villages deep.
“Oooh!”
I couldn’t help but be amazed here and there.
Among those who have taken the test so far no one has surpassed two villages.
Mak Myeong-bo the Cheonho of the Saseonbu who was supervising in front of Yeom Gyeong-i shouted with a satisfied face.
“Cadet Yeom-gyeong. Two and a half villages. “Currently killing one stone.”
‘Huh?’
Until this time only the failure and passing were distinguished but this time the grades were announced as well as the depth of the marks.
The term “one stone” means that this is the best performance so far.
Yeom-gyeong walked to the row where the successful candidates were gathered with a satisfied look on his face.
‘It’s nothing special.’
Joo Sang-jae who looked like he was a villager or half a villager gritted his teeth as if he was indignant at the sight of him walking in triumph.
The Hwasan faction was not called the Gudaemun faction for nothing.
Then I heard a shout.
“Cadet Namgung Cheonghyeon. Your village. “Currently killing one stone.”
‘Anit?’
‘Your village?’
Joo Sang-jae and Yeom Gyeong were startled and looked at Namgung Cheong-hyeon who was standing in the third row and taking the test.
It was truly an overwhelming result.
It was almost as if it had penetrated a stone slab.
The cadets who could not take the exam looked at him with awe as he calmly put his sword in its sheath and came out.
‘As expected the Seven Great Generations of Murim.’
He was the best cadet in his senior class acknowledged by everyone.
The heavenly warriors around him also clicked their tongues at the result.
‘Should we really say that Namgung Se is like that?’
‘Namgung Cheonghyeon…’
Nie Chun and Meng Wuyue who were not at all interested in the others were the only ones who responded to the results of Nangong Qingxian.
He was the grandson of Namgung Jin one of the Eight Stars of the Murim Dynasty.
As befits the grandson of such a person he was truly famous.
Yeomgyeong and Joo Sangjae of the Hwasan faction who regarded Namgung Cheonghyeon as their rival looked at him with jealous eyes.
Then another result came out.
“Cadet Jonghyun Geum. Three villages. Second place!”
‘Damn it!’
‘no. Geum Jong-hyun that guy is your third cousin?’
Geum Jong-hyun yawns and walks out as if he is annoyed.
Ju Sang-jae and Yeom Gyeong gritted their teeth at the sight of him.
In particular Yeomgyeong was instantly reduced to three seats and his reputation was at a loss.
‘…Tsk. Anyway the competition starts now.’
The current one was simply a measurement of internal strength.
The difference in strength between one village and two villages cannot be ignored but so far it has not been big enough to make a difference.
Then it was Seopchun’s turn.
The attention of the cadets around him poured out.
That was because it was an opportunity to find out what the level of the review index of Cheonjihoe which I had only heard about was.
-Sigh!
Seopchun grabbed the sword of Gwangmudo from his waist and released it.
This was because Gwangmudo a German-style weapon was a Bodo sword and was likely to produce results beyond internal strength.
It was a bet but to make it fair and square Nyeopchun focused his skills on the sword.
And he drew a capital on every other stone slab.
-Wow!
Eventually the results came out.
“Cadet Seopchun three villages and a half. Second place!”
-Roaring!
The cadets were excited by yet another great result.
He appears to be a Taoist who mainly uses the sword but he used his bare hands to produce three and a half swords.
Doesn’t that mean that if you use the Tao the results could be even better?
“Isn’t it true that you are the second seat and almost the same number as Namgung Cheong-hyeon?”
“…They weren’t just the three major powers in words.”
“He’s a monster.”
People around him were impressed but Seopchun was actually very upset.
I thought he should have just used Gwangmudo.
Still I have pride as a warrior and I didn’t feel very good perhaps because I got a result that was lower than that of Namgung Cheonghyeon of the political faction.
However this was also the case for Namgung Cheonghyeon.
‘…Is it because they were conscious of me that they achieved results without using weapons?’
Nangong Qingxian’s sword was nothing more than an ordinary sword that could be obtained from an ordinary blacksmith shop.
However the difference between using or not using weapons could not be ignored.
Perhaps because of this Namgung Cheonghyeon internally reproached himself saying that he should not have used military weapons.
Then someone else came up with the results.
-thud!
A heavy volume that resonates at times.
In the first volume the atavistic stone was sore and dented inside.
‘Look at this guy. Was it at this level?’
Seeing this Ohmugi the Cheonho of the Samseonbu raised his eyebrows and announced the results.
“Cadet Comfort Office. Three villages. “Third seats together!”
Many people were surprised by the results.
In particular Yeomgyeong of the Volcanic Sect who had been pushed out of the rankings in an instant was almost gnashing his teeth.
Although Bu Cheong was not very satisfied with the results he looked at someone and snorted.
‘Did you see it? This is the gap between you and me.’
That someone was Zhou Yunxiang.
Zhou Yunxiang sighed softly at Wei Bu Qing’s attitude.
“Whoa.”
Because I knew very well why he behaved this way towards me.
The above vice-cheong seemed to think that he could not use his own strength but that he had come up by using his help.
At this Jaune Hyang who was shaking his head stepped forward.
Because now it was his turn.
Then a shout was heard.
“Cadet dream. Three and a half! Co-chairman!”
-Roaring!
“Another three and a half villages.”
“This is crazy.”
“Did the Heaven and Earth Association just gather monsters? what?”
The cadets were beyond amazed and clicked their tongues at the test results of Dream Dragon.
Most of the 100 upper-level cadets found it difficult to even move beyond one village but three and a half villages was amazing.
It was no exaggeration to say that the levels were different from the beginning.
‘shit!’
The Wibucheong which was somewhat satisfied with its own results could not hide its anger.
After seeing Nie Chun of the Heaven and Earth Society achieve results with his bare hands he also went one step further without using a sword and used the fist he had learned as an assistant rather than his main martial art.
Thanks to that the results of the three villages came out and when another member of the Heaven and Earth Council also achieved high results it seemed like the Si-Ryeon Alliance to which he belonged was the worst among the three major powers.
“Tch.”
After hearing the results Mongmuyak who went to the successful applicants was dissatisfied with the results.
First of all out of pride he also did not use the sword.
Nevertheless he tried to win Ilseok and the result was an equal number with Nyeopchun.
The bet was a draw.
“phew.”
Seeing Meng Muyak like this Nie Chun sighed in relief and stroked his chest.
I was nervous inside because I was worried that he would use a sword to win the bet or that he would achieve high results with internal skills but fortunately it was Dongsu.
Then Zhou Yunxiang stood in front of the stone slab.
A significant number of cadets watched this closely.
It was not a look filled with anticipation.
‘Tsk tsk. ‘I’m being greedy for no reason.’
‘You skipped a grade using your backs so feel embarrassed.’
‘Do you think a guy with no skills can leave any trace?’
They were hoping that Zhou Yunxiang who had not learned the inner skills would be embarrassed by not being able to do anything.
Zhou Yunxiang caught his breath and stood in front of the atavistic stone slab.
Mak Myeong-bo the deputy inspector in front of him looked at him with eyes without great expectations.
‘I don’t know what So Yerin Yuk Cheon-ho wanted to do with this guy.’
I looked into it to see if I had hidden skills.
But as expected this guy didn’t seem to have learned any internal skills at all.
He was not a single stone and in the case of a hard stone it was not of such hardness that a person who had not mastered internal techniques could scratch it.
‘I guess I’ll just go in after feeling the limitations of the boat behind me.’
-Sigh!
Zhou Yunxiang who did not have much expectations placed his palm on the stone slab.
Cheonho-mak Myeong-bo a member of the firing line was impressed and warned at the act of touching without making any movement not even hitting.
“Cadet Joo Yun-hyang. Correctly respond to the internal resistance measurement…”
It was before I even finished speaking.
– Quad deud deuk!
Wind pressure arose around Zhou Yunxiang’s palm and it immediately spun around violently.
At that moment the atavistic stone slab cracked in the form of a tornado but soon the force was unable to withstand and the slab exploded scattering fragments in all directions.
-Papa papapak!
“Huh!”
Mak Myeong-bo who was embarrassed because he was right in front of him hurriedly blocked it and threw a new weapon backwards.
It was the same for those on both sides.
They blocked the flying debris blocking the path of the cadets who were urgently taking the test.
‘!!!’
In an instant the hall was filled with silence.
‘That doesn’t make sense.’
‘Atavistic stone slab….’
‘It was completely torn to pieces.’
All of the cadets’ mouths were open and they couldn’t close them.
All of the Heavenly Emperors of the Yukseongwan were also perplexed by this surprising result.
It was a shock itself.
Despite this enormous result the only person who seemed to react as if it was natural was So Ye-rin the six-thousand-ho who quietly raised the corner of her mouth.
* * *
Everyone in the hall could not help but be surprised.
None of them imagined that Rutxiang would break the atavistic stone slabs.
‘Wasn’t that guy without skills?’
‘That doesn’t make sense.’
Everyone questioned it beyond the results that occurred.
Since Joo Yun-hyang had a constitution that made it impossible for him to learn internal skills they believed that the reason he skipped the grade to an advanced level was because of his background.
‘This can’t be right….’
Naturally he thought he would do well in the test of endurance but when he completely shattered the stone slab Wibucheong was dumbfounded and at a loss for words.
How can this happen?
‘under….’
‘This is so….’
The heavenly names of each ministry in the Yukseongwan were equally absurd.
They looked at pre-filled cadet logs.
The records about Zhou Yun-hyang listed there were truly a mess.
But now he has shown something amazing.
‘…It’s not at the level of a cadet.’
To the extent of breaking a stone of atavism this was only possible when one’s pure internal energy reached the pinnacle of perfection.
Even the deputy supervisors of each ministry’s Geumui Committee could hardly do this.
‘What on earth?’
‘Have you been hiding your skills this whole time?’
The minds of the Cheonhos could not help but become complicated.
Like them Yuk Cheon-ho Chae Ho-seong one of the people in charge of supervising the selection process for the Geumui Committee was quite surprised and could not take his eyes off Unhyang.
Chae Ho-seong asked vaguely without looking at Yuk Cheon-ho So Ye-rin next to him.
“Did you know?”
Hearing So Ye-rin’s words he only showed a faint smile.
Chae Ho-seong’s eyes narrowed at her reaction.
Until now she had not realized that the scent she had picked up was hiding her inaction.
But what she noticed was
‘…So Ye-rin are you saying you are a level higher than me?’
This was bound to be even more shocking to him who had assumed that her inaction until now was at the same level or slightly below his.
As a member of the Geumwiwi aiming for the position of the next Namjin warrior there was no choice but to be cautious.
“Just Cheonho. Announce the results.”
Chae Ho-seong of the Sixth Heaven broke the silence and spoke.
At this Mak Myeong-bo the Cheonho of the Division who was shaking off the fragments of the broken stone slab right in front of him shouted loudly.
“Cadet Joo Yun-hyang. The atavistic stone is completely destroyed. “First kill!”
The cadets who were waiting for this result and the cadets in the elimination group and acceptance group all looked at Zhou Yunxiang in surprise as if the lingering emotion was still not gone.
“Ha…there was a monster-like guy in the imperial palace too. Isn’t that right?”
“….”
In response to Nie Chun’s words Meng Wuyak said nothing.
He too was quite shocked.
He thought that there were almost no people like his lord Mok Gyeong-un who had reached such a great level despite not being able to become a civil servant.
But the world was really wide.
This kind of monster was not in any other place but in the imperial palace.
Then Seopchun nodded and said.
“It’s your turn master.”
“ah.”
As he said he was walking out in front of the stone slab as if it was his turn to cultivate the tree.
Some cadets looked on with interest.
This is because Mokgyeongun was also a late exponent of the Cheonjihoe.
However it was the dropouts who did not have skills or cadets with low proficiency levels and the reactions of supervisors and cadets who achieved top results were different.
‘This guy is an ordinary axis among the latter-day exponents of Cheonjihoe.’
‘Weaker than those two guys.’
‘Even if I passed with ease I don’t think it’s enough to stand out.’
That was most reactions.
That’s right the tree cultivation they felt was only the peak of maturity at best.
Of course that alone gave him an edge over most advanced cadets.
I just thought that I was inferior compared to the Cheonjihoe and other high-ranking cadets.
So Mok Gyeong-un stood in front of the atavistic stone slab.
“Start.”
Lee Seon-bu’s heavenly friend Si-Woo-ryang who is judging Mok-gyeong-un’s group said.
‘It’s probably about two to two and a half villages.’
That’s what he guessed.
At that time Mok Gyeong-un looked at the stone slab and opened his mouth.
“Is there really any point in scratching a rock that isn’t alive and doesn’t move?”
At these words Cheonho Siu Liang snorted and said.
“If you say something like that make sure to scratch the slate. pupil.”
It was arrogant to hear that someone who couldn’t even reach the level of inactivity of the top ranks was doing it.
It would have been understandable if these words had been said by someone like Zhou Yunxiang who completely shattered the slate.
‘Tsk tsk.’
Then Mok Gyeong-un placed his hand not on the stone slab but on top of it.
Si Woo-ryang gave a warning.
“Do it right. “Not there but on the front side of the stone slab…”
That was before the words were even finished.
Mok Gyeong-un who was resting his hand grabbed the stone slab from above and then slowly traced it down with his five fingers.
-Geuggggggg.
At that moment something amazing happened.
Isn’t it true that the atavistic stone slabs are being dug out as if they were made of clay?
‘!!!!!!’
< Episode 65 Ignoring the Demonstration Department (4) > end
ⓒ Hanzhongwolya
