"Uh, elder, why are you doing this so early in the morning?"
"I had a lot on my mind last night."
Elder Gong, sitting upright with a piercing gaze, looked up at me.
He was dressed neatly in white robes, his hair slicked back with oil, and a pleasant fragrance suggested he had bathed early this morning.
His gaze was truly burdensome.
I asked hesitantly, "What were you thinking about?"
"I was thinking about the kindness you showed me, Teacher Bai. At first, it was half a joke. Learning martial arts with kids young enough to be my grandchildren at my age? Quite an amusing joke, isn't it? But... you took my joke seriously, even doing such things to your own body..."
"Such things?"
"I'm sorry."
I wanted to ask what exactly he was sorry for, but Elder Gong's expression was so solemn that I couldn't bring myself to.
"I also made a resolution. To respond to your sincerity, I will do my best to follow your guidance from now on!"
"Ah, yes. Thank you."
I wasn't sure what kind of resolve he made last night, but it seemed he was determined to learn diligently.
"It's not polite not to reveal one's name to a teacher. My name is Gong Sun-soo. I sincerely seek to learn from you, so for a month, please speak informally to me."
"Excuse me?"
"Teacher, please accept my bow."
Gong Sun-soo stood up and tried to bow to me.
I was startled and helped him up.
"No, really, why are you doing this?!"
"A teacher is like the heavens. Please speak comfortably..."
"Does that make any sense?!"
Speaking informally to a sixty-five-year-old man? If people knew, they'd call me a disgrace and throw stones at me.
"I can't speak informally because it's burdensome for me. Just speak as you usually do. And why aren't you stopping this?"
I looked at Heuk-yeong, who was blending into the corner of the room like a shadow.
Until yesterday, she was watching me with a critical eye, but when our eyes met, she looked down as if she had committed a crime.
"I also respect the elder's words."
"You're driving me crazy. Why are you doing this too?"
Shaking my head, I looked back at Gong Sun-soo.
"How can I speak informally to an elder just because I teach martial arts? Just speak as you usually do."
"Is that really... okay?"
Ha.
This mischievous old man.
Seeing him smile, it seemed he expected me to react this way.
When I glared at him, Gong Sun-soo laughed awkwardly.
"Haha. I just wanted to show you how sincere I am. You can really speak informally to me for a month."
"No, thank you."
I understood why Gong Sun-soo was being overly polite to me.
Last night, I removed quite a bit of the stagnant energy that had accumulated in his body over decades.
That alone was enough to be called a benefactor.
'It was a great opportunity for me too.'
I absorbed the stagnant and medicinal energy extracted from Gong Sun-soo's body using the Reversal Heavenly Art.
Thanks to that, I raised the achievement of the Reversal Heavenly Art to the fourth star this morning.
If I absorbed the remaining energy in Gong Sun-soo's body a few more times, I could aim for even greater achievements.
Isn't this mutual benefit?
However, since Gong Sun-soo had no way of knowing that, he treated me with utmost respect.
'There's no need to tell him.'
I wasn't tactless enough to go to someone who thought of me as a lifesaver and say, "I also gained a great opportunity, so you don't need to be so grateful."
"Anyway, we'll start morning training from today. Let's head to the training ground."
"Yes, Teacher!"
"Oh, come on."
After coming out to the training ground, I asked Gong Sun-soo to perform the Qi exercises he did yesterday.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
"Hahaha! My body feels as light as if it's flying!"
Elder Gong stretched his limbs and performed the Qi exercises at twice the speed of the previous day.
He was full of enthusiasm.
But wait a minute... that's too fast...
I shouted out of concern.
"Elder! You'll hurt your back at this rate. Slow down..."
But my warning came too late.
Crack!
With an ominous sound, Elder Gong clutched his back and collapsed.
"Oh, my back!"
"Elder!"
"I told you to slow down!"
Heuk-yeong and I hurriedly ran over to check Gong Sun-soo's back.
Fortunately, it was just a minor muscle strain.
His bones were fine.
Sudden, intense movements had put a strain on his old body.
"Sigh..."
Thinking there was still a long way to go, I covered my face with my hand and sighed.
"Elder! Listen to me carefully. You were lucky this time. If you push yourself like that again, it could be really serious. Understand?"
Gong Sun-soo, with a sullen expression, nodded while his back was covered in medicinal patches.
"I was wrong..."
"..."
I wanted to scold him more, but since he seemed to realize his mistake, I decided to let it go.
It was still early morning.
In front of me were Gong Sun-soo, Heuk-yeong, and Wi Ji-cheon, who had been called over.
Hyeon Won-gang was training alone elsewhere.
I spoke to Gong Sun-soo and Wi Ji-cheon.
"You two are peers for this year's Blue Dragon Academy entrance exam. I'll explain about the entrance exam before work. For convenience, I'll speak informally from now on, so please understand."
At my words, Gong Sun-soo, who was holding his aching back, reached out to Heuk-yeong.
"Wait a moment. Heuk-yeong, the writing tools..."
"Elder, since you're not feeling well, I'll write it down for you."
"... There's no need to write it down. It's not that much."
It's not like we're taking a civil service exam.
Pressing my throbbing temples with my hand, I continued my explanation.
"First, the Blue Dragon Academy entrance exam is divided into practical and written tests."
"Oh, I'm confident in the written test. I'll top the exam!"
"... The written test accounts for less than a quarter of the total score. As long as you have basic common sense, you can pass, so there's no need to write it down."
"What?"
At my words, Gong Sun-soo grumbled with a frustrated expression.
"These ignorant swordsmen... To achieve great things, one must be well-versed in both literature and martial arts, possessing the skills to excel in both civil and military affairs. How could they lower the score for the written test? I'll have to confront the Blue Dragon Academy head about this someday..."
"If you interrupt me one more time, I'll really kick you out."
"... Sorry."
When I squinted my eyes and glared at him, Gong Sun-soo hunched his shoulders.
His first impression wasn't like this...
The more I see him, the more he seems like a child.
After giving Gong Sun-soo a stern look, I resumed my explanation.
"The practical test consists of basic physical strength, external martial arts, internal martial arts, and practical sparring. The first three are absolute evaluations, and if you don't meet the standards, you won't even get to the sparring. Any questions?"
Wi Ji-cheon raised his hand like a model student and asked.
"Who do we spar with in the practical test?"
"You'll spar with one of the senior students. Who you spar with is decided by drawing lots on the day."
Honestly, I'm not worried about Wi Ji-cheon at all.
He already had the skills to easily defeat Hyeon Won-gang, who was among the top students in the third year of Blue Dragon Academy.
Although there were some lingering aftereffects from his inner demon incident, and there were minor issues when using internal martial arts... with time, he could overcome them.
Then, Gong Sun-soo also raised his hand timidly.
"Can I ask a question too?"
"... Go ahead."
"In the practical sparring, do we have to win against the senior to pass?"
"You don't necessarily have to win. Realistically, it's hard for new students to beat current students. What's important is 'how impressive you are.'"
"Impressive?"
"Show the martial arts you've learned, your sense of fighting, your will to win, and your potential."
"...."
Both of them seemed deep in thought at my words.
In fact, if you beat a senior in the practical sparring, you can almost consider the practical test passed.
The student council consists of some of the strongest martial artists in Blue Dragon Academy.
"That's the important part for now. We'll discuss the minor details after work."
"Yes."
"Understood."
After that, I watched their martial arts for about half an hour.
Having woken up at dawn, it was already time to head to Blue Dragon Academy for work.
I called Wi Ji-cheon over and earnestly requested.
"Ji-cheon, please take care of the elder while I'm gone. He's a clumsy peer, but he's still your entrance exam peer."
"Yes! I'll keep a close eye on him, so don't worry!"
Gong Sun-soo, who was listening from behind, pouted his lips.
"I can hear you, you know. Calling me clumsy is a bit much..."
"Elder, please only do the movements I taught you today. Don't overdo it and hurt your back like before."
"I'm not a child... I can't even make excuses after what I did earlier. Ahem. Off you go."
I felt uneasy as if leaving a child by the water, but I couldn't skip work.
Forcing my reluctant feet to move, I headed to Blue Dragon Academy.
"You started private tutoring?"
Mae Geuk-ryeom frowned, seemingly displeased.
We were patrolling the academy together.
After hearing about what happened yesterday and today, Mae Geuk-ryeom spoke.
"I have no intention of interfering with what you do in your spare time."
Even during the vacation period, the Student Guidance Department doesn't rest.
On the contrary, the students who remain in the dormitory for seasonal classes take advantage of the teachers' relaxed supervision to hide in various places, drinking, smoking, and engaging in inappropriate relationships...
...or so Mae Geuk-ryeom claimed.
"But if you neglect this work because of tutoring, that would be putting the cart before the horse."
"Yes, I'll keep that in mind."
At that moment, Mae Geuk-ryeom extended his sword forward and spoke.
But the sword wasn't aimed at me.
"Please spare us..."
"Teacher, please..."
In front of us were a pair of students, reminiscent of cockroaches, clinging to each other with their clothes half undone, trembling.
In a secluded spot behind the student cafeteria, these young ones, for some reason, had set up a formation and were engaging in inappropriate activities outdoors, only to be caught by Mae Geuk-ryeom's keen senses.
Srrrng.
Drawing his sword, Mae Geuk-ryeom approached them with a chilling smile.
"Who said anything about killing?"
"Ahhhh!"
After a terrible scream echoed, I roughly shoved the two unconscious students into their respective dormitory rooms and came out.
Mae Geuk-ryeom, who was meticulously wiping his sword, looked at me and asked.
"Where did we leave off?"
"... I won't neglect academy work because of tutoring."
"Yes, you shouldn't."
We continued our patrol around the academy.
When we caught someone smoking, we made them finish the cigarette by sticking it in their nostril, and when we caught someone drinking, we hung them upside down from a tree to make them vomit all the alcohol.
As for those caught engaging in inappropriate relationships... we could only offer our condolences.
Mae Geuk-ryeom carried out all these tasks with a peaceful expression, while also engaging in trivial conversations with me.
"Sixty-five, you say? Hmm... that's not much older than me."
"He's an elder, but his physical condition isn't bad, and he has strong willpower."
"If he passes, he'll become the oldest freshman in history."
Mae Geuk-ryeom was quite amazed by Gong Sun-soo's challenge.
As we patrolled together, we talked about many things, and I also mentioned Wi Ji-cheon.
"The other one is Wi Ji-cheon, a very talented guy. He'll definitely be the top student among this year's freshmen."
At that moment, another voice interrupted our conversation.
"Who did you say is the top student?"
"This annoying voice... could it be..."
Turning towards the direction of the voice, sure enough, Namgung Soo was walking over with a few students.
They all had youthful faces.
"Teacher Namgung, who are the students behind you? I haven't seen them before."
Mae Geuk-ryeom asked, tilting his head, and Namgung Soo, as if waiting for this moment, smirked and replied.
"They're students I'm personally teaching. I was giving them a tour of Blue Dragon Academy."
"A tour?"
"They're students who will be taking the entrance exam for Blue Dragon Academy this year."
Namgung Soo said this while staring straight at me, one corner of his mouth slightly raised.
"I believe one of these students will be the top entrant this year."
His arrogant gaze was infuriating.
The students behind him, resembling their teacher, all had equally arrogant looks in their eyes.