"This isn't right."
That was the first thought that crossed Jo Mak-saeng's mind.
The pain in his abdomen was nothing.
Cold sweat was pouring down his entire body.
"Damn it..."
At first, everything went according to plan.
After bringing the old man who didn't know his place and the rookie named Wi Ji-cheon to the sparring arena, he intended to humiliate them in front of a crowd.
Gathering spectators wasn't difficult, and coaxing the old man who wanted to mingle with the youngsters onto the stage was even easier.
"Sir, let's spar safely with wooden swords. We can't have any injuries before the entrance exam."
"Haha, sounds good. Safety first, after all."
Jo Mak-saeng's lips curled up at the thought of showing this smelly old man that even a wooden sword could break bones.
The two stood facing each other on the stage.
To create a more overwhelming situation, Jo Mak-saeng suggested, "Would you like me to give you three moves?"
"Haha, then I won't refuse."
Gong Son-su approached with a pace so slow it made one yawn.
It was impossible not to let his guard down.
Just as Jo Mak-saeng thought of five ways to block the weak attack, the sword came closer.
"I could block this with my eyes closed."
Jo Mak-saeng leisurely raised his sword.
But at that moment, the opponent's sword suddenly sped up.
"Gasp!"
Normally, he wouldn't have been flustered by such speed.
But when a slow-moving sword suddenly accelerates, it feels twice as fast.
Thud!
In his haste to raise his sword, he failed to defend properly.
Forget three moves.
Jo Mak-saeng barely deflected the attack and instinctively attempted a counterattack.
Swish!
Gong Son-su leaned back to avoid the attack and stepped back with a laugh.
"Haha, you said you'd give me three moves... It was a good lesson. Lying skillfully is also a martial art."
"No..."
Realizing his blunder too late, Jo Mak-saeng's face turned red.
"Damn it!"
Many eyes were watching from all around.
Not just his peers, but seniors and even some instructors.
He couldn't afford to be labeled a liar in this situation.
"... That was a mistake. I'll give you two, no, three moves again."
"Haha, can I trust you this time...?"
"Damn old man!"
Gong Son-su looked skeptical, and Jo Mak-saeng, trying to calm his boiling anger, repeatedly promised to give three moves.
"Alright, I'll trust you this time."
Gong Son-su, who had turned Jo Mak-saeng's insides upside down, approached cautiously again.
Giving three moves meant blocking three attacks without countering.
But Gong Son-su was much stronger than Jo Mak-saeng had anticipated.
During those three moves, Jo Mak-saeng's hands and feet got tangled, and Gong Son-su took advantage of the gap to land a palm strike on his abdomen.
Boom!
"Ugh!"
Jo Mak-saeng, hit in the abdomen, staggered back, bending at the waist.
"Oh dear, I'm sorry. I didn't think you couldn't even block that..."
This was the series of events that unfolded when the two climbed onto the stage.
"Can you stand?"
"Ugh... Of course."
Jo Mak-saeng straightened his upper body in preparation for the next attack, but Gong Son-su stood still, showing no intention of attacking further.
"If you want, we can call it a draw."
Words that could make a person feel like a fool in an instant.
His expression, tone, and every action turned Jo Mak-saeng's insides upside down.
"A draw?"
There were dozens, no, now over a hundred spectators around the stage.
Faces showing surprise, interest, and even ridicule.
Among them, the ones Jo Mak-saeng couldn't bear were Jin Jin, looking at him like he was a bug, and Namgung Seok, whose face showed no emotion as if he hadn't expected anything.
"Damn it..."
A murderous intent began to flicker in Jo Mak-saeng's eyes.
He spat on the ground and said, "Don't talk like you've already won. I haven't even started yet."
"Haha, I was just worried about you..."
"Shut up and come at me!"
Jo Mak-saeng shouted and charged with all his might.
No more letting his guard down.
He would repay everything he had suffered so far many times over.
"Old man! I'll break all your bones!"
The power in the wooden sword tore through the air.
Some spectators frowned at the near-lethal attack.
"Isn't that a bit much...?"
"Shouldn't someone stop this?"
But no one stepped forward yet.
Gong Son-su's expression as he faced the attack was surprisingly calm.
"Haha, Mr. Baek was right."
"Argh!"
As Jo Mak-saeng charged like a wild boar, Gong Son-su recalled the advice Baek Su-ryong had given him.
-Trainee Gong Son-su, what do you think your strengths are?
-Exceptional physique for your age? Or perhaps formidable talent?
He remembered the face that had looked incredulous at his joke.
-First, composure.
Having gone through so much, you don't even blink at most threats.
Swish!
Baek Su-ryong had swung his sword suddenly, bringing it to Gong Son-su's neck.
Gong Son-su hadn't been surprised; he reacted late but tried to block it.
-You didn't get startled just now, did you?
-...
But what does it matter if my reaction is late and I allow all the attacks?
-That's because the opponent was too overwhelming.
-Stop boasting...
-The second strength is psychological warfare.
Compared to other applicants, you're older and started martial arts late, so you look unimpressive at first glance.
-...
Black Shadow, is this guy insulting me?
-Should I cut him, sir?
-...
Both of you, listen to the end.
The opponent naturally underestimates you.
At this point, if you provoke them with words, you can easily handle them.
You're good at that, aren't you?
-Haha...
He couldn't forget the face that had spoken with an evil grin.
Thanks to that, he was using it well now.
"Haaap!"
Avoiding all of Jo Mak-saeng's sword swings, Gong Son-su smiled slyly.
"Haha, even though I'm old, my ears aren't deaf, so you don't have to shout like that."
At Gong Son-su's teasing words, Jo Mak-saeng's face turned red as he shouted, "Shut up!"
"Hmm? You're the one making more noise, aren't you?"
"Damn old man!"
"Hahaha."
He had spent his life fighting with those who wielded knives with their tongues in the treacherous imperial palace.
He could tell what such a young pup was thinking just by looking into his eyes.
"What a yellow sprout."
A typical character who is weak to the strong and strong to the weak.
He gauged the level of those he met for the first time, and if he judged them weaker than himself, he revealed his hidden fangs.
Gong Son-su despised this type of person the most.
-Mr. Baek, is there perhaps a third strength?
-This is connected to the second one...
If you get ahead in psychological warfare, you naturally gain an advantage in strategy.
-In short, provoke the opponent with words to make them make mistakes, right?
-You understand perfectly.
Excellent, trainee.
Now you know why you need to learn voice transmission, right?
Baek Su-ryong.
That young martial arts tutor sometimes seemed like a fifty-year-old sly fox.
-Whether you do it with your voice or through voice transmission, provoke the opponent to make mistakes.
And don't miss the gap to finish them off.
-Haha...
I read a lot of martial arts novels in my youth, and usually, the evil sects do that kind of thing.
-This instructor is very open-minded in that regard.
Hehehe.
If it weren't for his handsome face, one might think he was a demon from the evil sect, Baek Su-ryong said with a smile.
-Remember.
Composure, psychological warfare, strategy.
With these, you can toy with the young ones at the Blue Dragon Academy as much as you want.
Recalling that face, Gong Son-su couldn't help but chuckle.
"Honestly, I was skeptical... but there's not a single thing the instructor was wrong about."
"Damn it! What have you been mumbling about since earlier!!"
"Child, I wasn't talking to you."
Gong Son-su moved smoothly to avoid Jo Mak-saeng's attacks.
The opponent's attacks were fast and fierce, but they were also large and full of openings.
"I can see it all."
He could clearly read where the excited Jo Mak-saeng was aiming, what he was thinking with his footwork, and how he would continue his moves.
"Haha, it feels like I've opened my eyes."
Gong Son-su's sword drew a gentle arc.
The spectators, seeing this, exchanged opinions and talked among themselves.
"Is it Wudang's martial arts?"
"No, it's not Wudang."
"It seems like Taoist martial arts..."
"... It embodies the essence of 'softness overcomes hardness.'"
The martial arts Gong Son-su displayed were none of what they guessed.
It only contained the essence of martial arts that Baek Su-ryong had emphasized for a month.
Softness overcomes hardness.
To subdue strength with softness.
It's easy to say, but it takes great courage to actually do it.
The courage to accept a force stronger than oneself without resisting.
"What, what is this?"
At the moment the swords clashed, Jo Mak-saeng felt as if his sword had fallen into a deep swamp.
Gong Son-su's sword wasn't fast or strong.
Instead, it was endlessly soft, entangling his attack and advancing little by little.
"Ugh..."
Jo Mak-saeng didn't even realize he was stepping back.
It wasn't strong.
It was an opponent he could easily defeat! The fact that things weren't going his way made him furious.
"Damn it! This old man is nothing!"
The excited Jo Mak-saeng infused his sword with internal energy.
The wooden sword trembled with a buzzing sound.
He planned to shake off the opponent with force and finish it with his strongest move.
"It's over."
Namgung Seok and Jin Jin flinched at the cold voice they heard from beside them.
Namgung Soo was watching the sparring next to them, though they hadn't noticed when he arrived.
"Master..."
"No need for greetings. Watch until the end. See what happens to someone who doesn't know their place and can't grasp the opponent's abilities, and learn from it."
"... Yes."
It was a harsh evaluation, hard to believe it was about his own disciple.
"Haaap!"
Jo Mak-saeng's attack, accompanied by a shout, was one of the fastest and fiercest among his peers.
But Gong Son-su had already read its trajectory.
Swish!
The decisive strike cut through empty air.
Gong Son-su's sword, which had smoothly slipped through the gap, struck Jo Mak-saeng's wrist and thigh.
Thwack! Thwack!
Two sounds of impact.
Though not very strong, it was enough to make Jo Mak-saeng drop his sword and kneel.
"It seems I have won."
"Ugh..."
The wooden sword was touching the chin of the kneeling Jo Mak-saeng.
Gong Son-su smiled gently and said, "Child, I know you intended to humiliate me in front of everyone."
"I, I..."
"But the world isn't that easy. You must know that when you plot, you can just as easily be caught in your own trap."
"Ugh..."
Jo Mak-saeng's face turned red.
Not only had he lost the sparring, but the fact that his plan had been seen through was humiliating.
"Make sure to fix that bad habit in the future."
Knowing that a few words wouldn't easily change a person, Gong Son-su gave a brief admonishment and turned away.
"Phew, I'm tired."
As the tension left his body, fatigue washed over him.
Yet, he felt incredibly refreshed.
He promised himself that when he returned to the White Dragon Hall, he would boast to Black Shadow about his victory.
"Wow!"
At that moment, cheers and applause erupted from all around, leaving Gong Son-su wide-eyed.
"Hmm?"
He finally noticed the crowd that had filled the area around the stage.
"You're amazing, sir!"
"That was truly impressive!"
"I heard earlier, he's the oldest applicant ever?"
"Amazing. To take on such a challenge at that age..."
The boys and girls he had admired in his youth were now giving him genuine cheers and applause.
"Haha, hahaha..."
Gong Son-su stood on the stage for a while, overwhelmed.
An indescribable thrill ran down his spine.
Tears almost welled up in his eyes.
"Sir!"
He saw Wi Ji-cheon waving from the other side.
A good kid.
He seemed happier than if he had won himself, his eyes red with emotion.
"Hahaha... Thank you, everyone. Thank you!"
Gong Son-su clasped his hands and bowed to the people.
It was then that an unexpected incident occurred.
"Argh!"
Jo Mak-saeng, his eyes bloodshot, let out a scream and charged at Gong Son-su, who had his back turned.