Namgung Su was overwhelmed, trying to fend off the relentless attacks from Myeong Il-oh.

"What on earth is happening!"

An inexplicable situation was unfolding before his eyes.

The new instructor applicant, who couldn't even graze his clothes before, was now pushing him back with skills that seemed to have transformed overnight.

Clack! Clack! Clack!

The wooden sword and staff clashed repeatedly.

From the moment Namgung Su's stance faltered, Myeong Il-oh launched a relentless offensive without even pausing for breath.

"Damn it..."

Until now, he hadn't broken a sweat even after over a hundred exchanges, but now, in just a dozen moves, his back was drenched in cold sweat.

"I can't retreat any further."

Gritting his teeth, Namgung Su forced himself to hold his ground and swung his sword.

Just a few steps back, and he could catch his breath and counterattack.

But he couldn't do that.

An imaginary circle.

He had never told anyone, but from the moment he stepped onto the stage, he decided that stepping out of this circle would mean his defeat.

"Haaap!"

For the first time, a shout burst from Namgung Su's lips.

Whoosh.

As his wooden sword drew a large, smooth arc, Myeong Il-oh's rain-like attacks were all deflected within that trajectory.

Myeong Il-oh immediately retreated hurriedly.

"Oh! As expected of Teacher Namgung!"

"It can't end like this!"

The instructors and students exclaimed in admiration at Namgung Su's exquisite move.

However, Namgung Su's expression was not good.

"... He anticipated my attack and retreated."

Originally, he intended to deflect Myeong Il-oh's attack with his move and simultaneously step forward to counterattack.

But Myeong Il-oh withdrew his attack half a beat earlier and quickly retreated to widen the distance.

"Hoo... Hoo..."

Watching Myeong Il-oh slowly catch his breath outside the range, Namgung Su realized he was trapped within the imaginary circle he had created for himself.

"I'll come again."

"..."

Myeong Il-oh, aiming his staff at the center, charged again.

Namgung Su hadn't fully caught his breath yet.

Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!

Myeong Il-oh's offensive was fierce.

He cleverly exploited the fact that Namgung Su couldn't step out of the imaginary circle, repeatedly attacking and retreating.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Initially, the distance wasn't that precise, but as time went on, he attacked with a threatening precision as if measured with a ruler.

Moreover, his weapon was a staff, which was much easier to control in terms of distance compared to a wooden sword.

Namgung Su felt completely cornered.

"Is this really the same person as before?"

This wasn't just hiding one's skills.

It felt as if someone else was controlling Myeong Il-oh's body and fighting in his place.

"No, it's not just a feeling... Someone is actually helping him."

At first, he was just surprised, but as he got used to it, he became convinced.

The confident look in Myeong Il-oh's eyes, the boldness in his movements without any hesitation, and the efficiency that maximized his actions.

"There's no waste in his movements, so the efficiency is maximized."

The staff swung with the same speed and power as before, but the difference in impact was like night and day because of that.

"But who on earth..."

Whoosh!

Once again, Myeong Il-oh dodged Namgung Su's attack by just tilting his head without even looking.

Coincidentally, behind the tilted head of Myeong Il-oh, the figure of a young man came into view.

"Baek Su-ryong?"

Smirk.

The moment their eyes met, Baek Su-ryong's lips curled into a smile.

"So it was you!"

The moment Namgung Su saw the smile on Baek Su-ryong's lips, he realized how this whole situation had come to be.

Grit!

Furious to the core, Namgung Su's body trembled.

Flames blazed in his eyes.

However, in that fleeting moment of distraction...

"Where are you looking during a spar?"

"!!"

Baek Su-ryong and Myeong Il-oh didn't miss it.

Whoosh!

Myeong Il-oh, who had quickly closed in on the imaginary circle, blocked Namgung Su's wooden sword with his staff and hooked his leg around Namgung Su's knee.

Namgung Su's body tilted backward.

Facing the flustered Namgung Su, Myeong Il-oh grinned.

"This is the end."

And then Myeong Il-oh swung his staff with all his might and inner power.

Boom!

Everyone thought Namgung Su's back had slammed into the stage floor.

But that was Myeong Il-oh's only mistake that day, being too quick to assume victory.

"What do you mean it's over?"

Namgung Su hadn't fallen.

He was blocking the staff while bending his waist backward with strength in his legs.

It was a technique requiring incredible balance and strength in the lower body and abdomen.

"The moment the spar ends is..."

Muttering in a chilling voice, Namgung Su took two or three steps back and then sprang up, bouncing his waist.

"Damn it!"

Myeong Il-oh hurriedly tried to retreat, but at that moment, Namgung Su was already infusing his sword with inner power.

"I decide."

Crackle, crackle!

A dazzling white sword aura formed on his sword.

Not long after the bet began, Jegal So-young asked me with a dazed expression.

"... What on earth did you do?"

"What do you mean?"

Jegal So-young pointed her long, white finger at the two people fighting on the stage.

"That. How is Applicant Myeong Il-oh pushing Brother Namgung?"

"He must have been hiding his skills."

I shrugged and answered nonchalantly, but in truth, I was continuously giving instructions to Myeong Il-oh through sound transmission.

[Move one step to the left.
A slash is coming from the right.]

[Retreat one step and block the upper left.
Then aim for the opponent's thigh.]

[Move three steps to the right, then advance one step.
Thrust!]

[Hold it long and deflect.
The opponent won't chase anyway.]

Sometimes there was a delay in his reactions, but Myeong Il-oh generally followed my instructions well.

On the other hand, Namgung Su was fighting with a significant disadvantage he had imposed on himself.

"I can see where the imaginary circle ends."

The obsession with not stepping out of the imaginary circle was preventing Namgung Su from displaying even half of his true skills.

What a foolish thing to do.

I could fight the academy's rookies with only external martial arts because I had practiced such training countless times in the past, literally using only external martial arts.

But Myeong Il-oh was in a situation where he could freely use his inner power.

"He dug his own grave."

I could see Namgung Su's movements becoming increasingly erratic as he grew more flustered.

Whoosh!

When Myeong Il-oh tilted his head to dodge Namgung Su's sword, our eyes met by chance.

I smiled to shake Namgung Su psychologically.

"!!"

As expected, his expression twisted in a way worth seeing.

I immediately sent a sound transmission to Myeong Il-oh.

The fifty exchanges I had bet with Jegal So-young were nearing their end.

[Finish it with this attack.]

Whoosh!

Myeong Il-oh closed the distance, blocked the wooden sword, and hooked Namgung Su's knee, pushing him.

At the same time, he swung the staff, imbued with powerful inner power, from above.

Whoosh!

I nodded with a smile.

"It's over."

But even monkeys fall from trees sometimes, and unexpected things often happen in life.

Boom!

The moment Namgung Su blocked the staff with the iron plate bridge technique, my brow furrowed, and when he sprang up, bouncing his waist, I clicked my tongue.

Watching Myeong Il-oh retreat in surprise, I sighed softly.

"If you're surprised and retreat, what are you going to do? You should have kept attacking with the determination to kill."

Well, Myeong Il-oh did much better than I expected.

But I never imagined Namgung Su would infuse sword aura into a sparring wooden sword at that moment.

Crackle, crackle!

It was a distinct white sword aura.

The moment someone, whether an instructor or a student, saw it, they shouted.

"Heavenly Thunder Sword Technique!"

One of the famous martial arts of the Namgung family, which competes for supremacy even among the Five Great Families.

At the same time, I shouted and jumped onto the stage.

"That crazy bastard!"

But I was a step too late.

The sword aura exploded, painting the stage white, and shortly after, Myeong Il-oh's scream erupted.

"Ugh!"

Myeong Il-oh spewed blood as he was flung away.

I jumped into the air, gently caught his flying body, and landed on the ground.

"Bro, brother... Ugh!"

"Don't speak."

Myeong Il-oh's body was covered in blood.

The wooden staff, shattered by the sword aura, had its splinters embedded all over his body.

It seemed he had barely managed to protect his vital points, but it wasn't an injury that would heal in a day or two.

Tap, tap, tap!

I pressed a few acupoints and blood points on Myeong Il-oh.

As he drifted into sleep, I handed him over to Jegal So-young, who had rushed to my side.

"Is, is he okay?"

"His life isn't in danger, so just keep him for a moment and show him to a physician when they arrive. I need to have a word with that side."

Leaving Myeong Il-oh with Jegal So-young, I turned my head to glare at Namgung Su.

Just then, Namgung Su was also looking at me.

"Did you intend to kill him?"

"... I'm sorry. In the heat of the moment, I used sword aura without realizing it."

Namgung Su sighed with a troubled expression, but I knew it was all an act.

"Sorry?"

I chuckled as I walked up onto the stage.

Without realizing it, my tone from the Blood Sect days came out.

"Does it end with an apology? If Il-oh had died from that attack, would you just say sorry at his grave and be done with it? You live quite comfortably."

"... What are you trying to do now?"

I stopped just a few steps away from Namgung Su.

Namgung Su didn't back down and glared at me.

With an unexpected injury occurring, the tension in the air was high.

All the spectators' eyes were on us.

"Should I do it here?"

I stood there, gauging Namgung Su's skills.

Indeed, the martial arts he had just shown were stronger than I had anticipated.

He was skilled at hiding his abilities.

He might be hiding even more.

But that didn't mean I couldn't win...

"Stop!"

A voice, resonating with inner power, shook the stage.

Noh Gun-sang, who seemed to fly onto the stage, scolded us with stern eyes.

"Applicant Baek Su-ryong. Instructor Namgung Su. Both of you, return to your places. I will not tolerate any more disturbances."

"..."

Neither of us moved, and that action displeased Noh Gun-sang.

"Can neither of you hear me?"

Rumble!

The pressure from Noh Gun-sang's aura pressed down on both of us with suffocating force.

"Ugh..."

The overwhelming pressure distorted both my and Namgung Su's expressions simultaneously.

Moreover, the impact of that aura left some of the surrounding instructors and students in the audience pale.

"This is the final warning. Both of you, return to your places."

At that stern voice, Namgung Su turned his body sharply first.

"You got lucky, punk."

I glared at Namgung Su's back and slowly turned my body.

Somehow, I had a feeling that my bad relationship with him would last a long time.