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Tall, with broad shoulders.
An overwhelming sense of pressure that seemed to weigh down the surroundings just by standing there.
Her sun-kissed, dark skin shimmered with a healthy glow, and the muscles in her exposed forearms were beautifully defined.
A physique that shouted with every fiber of its being, "This is the mark of a true martial artist."
‘Southern Barbarian Beast Palace?’
Between her attire, draped in tiger fur, and the two large axes strapped to her back, she didn't look like a martial artist from the Central Plains. I immediately thought of a sect belonging to the Outer Rim, just like us.
“Ho.”
She had spotted me rising from my seat as well.
Our eyes met.
Her gaze was like that of a predator sensing its prey, but I didn't look away, staring right back at the giant.
“……I knew it at a glance! Are you Seol Sool-ryeo from the North Sea Ice Palace?”
Her voice was booming, even resonant.
Though her height and build were larger than most adult men, the voice was unmistakably a woman’s.
And she knew my name?
Was she looking to challenge me to a duel?
“That I am…….”
I carefully gathered my internal energy, gauging her skill level.
Her aura was completely different from the pathetic martial artists I had encountered in the rural village.
“I am Maeng Ryeong-ji, a palace disciple of the Beast Palace.”
The giant strode toward me.
With every step she took, I could feel a momentum as if the mountains themselves were shifting.
I knew that sloppy, amateur techniques wouldn't work; if we were to fight, I would have to draw my sword.
“From the moment I heard your name, I have been looking forward to this day!”
*Whoosh!*
Maeng Ryeong-ji spread her arms wide.
It was a stance that looked like a bear preparing to threaten its opponent.
Reflexively, I lowered my stance, my hand hovering over my sword.
“…….”
And the next moment.
“I finally get to see your face! I am truly delighted that we will be entering the Heavenly Martial Academy together! Hahahaha!”
Maeng Ryeong-ji pulled me into a crushing embrace.
I was so taken aback that it took me a moment to even process what she had said.
……I was truly glad I hadn't drawn my sword and had tucked it away at the last second.
“Ahem, uh-hum. Y-you startled me.”
“Hahaha! I heard the news that a comrade from the Outer Rim had arrived in Luoyang, and I couldn't just sit still!”
Maeng Ryeong-ji burst into hearty laughter and patted my back a few times.
It seemed I had misunderstood her; her expression when she was silent was just naturally intimidating.
“Sit down for a moment. You’re going to scare people.”
I pointed to the chair across from me.
Not only the waiter standing far off, but everyone in the inn was staring at us.
“May I…… eat with you?”
Regardless of the attention, Maeng Ryeong-ji looked at me with strangely glistening eyes before pulling up a chair and sitting down.
She was so large that it looked as if the small chair might shatter under her weight.
“Eat as much as you like. How did you know I was here?”
She didn't seem to have any malicious intent, but I was curious how she had found me so quickly.
My appearance was quite eye-catching, though perhaps not as much as Maeng Ryeong-ji’s.
It wasn't strange for someone to recognize a disciple of the North Sea Ice Palace at a glance, but I had only arrived in Luoyang today.
“As soon as I got to the Heavenly Martial Academy, I asked if you had arrived! They said you hadn't yet, so I asked them to let me know the moment you did!”
Eh?
Did the assistant who checked my entrance plaque pass on my destination to So-woon?
Well, her identity was certain, so there was no reason they couldn't tell her, but…….
“Wait, you said your name was Maeng Ryeong-ji, right? If your surname is Maeng, are you by any chance the daughter of the Beast Palace Master?”
Just as I was about to accept the situation and start my meal, I suddenly remembered my father mentioning that a child of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace would be coming to the academy.
I had assumed it would be a boy, so I hadn't connected the dots with her.
“That’s right! But in the Beast Palace, aside from the Young Palace Master, we are all palace disciples regardless of our lineage!”
That was Maeng Ryeong-ji.
‘So the son of the Beast Palace Master wasn't my number one husband candidate?’
I hadn't heard that it was a daughter.
Come to think of it, he hadn't specifically said "son" either.
‘That’s right, he just said "child." ……What a fool!’
I gulped down some cold water, ruminating on my father’s phrasing.
Her talent certainly seemed exceptional, but even if she mastered the Supreme Yang Technique, Harmonization of Yin and Yang would be impossible!
……Did my father not even know that Maeng Ryeong-ji was a woman?
‘Ah, he mentioned the Namgung Clan and others as well. Can one learn Supreme Yang techniques at the academy even if it’s not the Beast Palace Master’s son?’
I was confused inside, but I couldn't reveal the absurd misunderstanding that the other party hadn't even considered.
I calmed my startled heart and spoke calmly.
“I heard about you from my father, too. He said your martial talent is extraordinary?”
“Hahaha! I beat up all the other palace disciples my age before coming here!”
Maeng Ryeong-ji proudly held her entrance plaque between her fingers as she spoke.
“I heard that the North Pole Saint Emperor himself guaranteed that you would overwhelm even the rising stars of the Nine Great Sects!”
“…….”
……My father?
He didn't just say that back at the Ice Palace, but he actually bragged like a doting parent in front of the Beast Palace Master?
Did he seriously think I could beat up the best kids in the Central Plains?
And that I could monopolize the medicinal herbs?
‘The leaders of the Nine Great Sects weren't there, right? He must have just been drinking with the Beast Palace Master and said it in passing, right?’
Setting aside my confusion over his intentions for sending me to the academy, my face flushed with heat.
Of course, the North Sea Ice Palace wasn't a sect to be looked down upon, but even if one was the top student at a local prestigious high school, the Daechi-dong district would be crawling with students who were just as good or even better!
The Nine Great Sects were the ten most prestigious factions in the Central Plains Murim.
Excluding the Beggar Sect, the nine great sects recruited talented disciples from all over the Central Plains and educated them in the best possible environment.
It was said that the Five Great Clans performed marrow-cleansing rituals on their children from the moment they were born and fed them medicinal herbs like water.
Wasn't it a bit too much to say I could overwhelm them?
“Let’s crush those weak-willed Central Plains bastards together! Hahaha!”
Whether I resented my father back in the distant North Sea or not, Maeng Ryeong-ji believed the doting father’s claims completely.
As she talked about fighting, she puffed out her chest and clenched her fists, and Yang energy erupted from her entire body.
Hmm…… at least in terms of momentum, I didn't think I would lose.
“My kin said that the people of the Central Plains all think they’re the best! They say that if you threw them into a jungle crawling with beasts, they wouldn't even be able to keep their bones together, yet they stick together like glue. We should naturally unite with our own righteous spirit!”
So, she thinks they’re hothouse flowers.
I nodded, but caught onto one word.
“That ‘kin’ you mentioned…… is it your older brother?”
“Hm? Ah, yes. He is the Young Palace Master of the Beast Palace.”
“Is he at the academy?”
“No? He graduated last year.”
Maeng Ryeong-ji frowned.
I suddenly felt the urge to ask if her brother was handsome or what his martial talent was like.
But since my Nine Yin Severed Meridians were a secret, if I asked such a question out of the blue, there was a high chance Maeng Ryeong-ji would think I was obsessed with men and keep her distance.
I decided to keep the information about Maeng Ryeong-ji having an older brother in the back of my mind and continued the conversation naturally.
“I see. Since you have an older sibling who attended the academy, you must have heard a lot about it.”
I was curious about the other students as well.
I wasn't as combative as Maeng Ryeong-ji, but since I had to compete with these formidable kids to obtain the medicinal herbs provided by the Heavenly Martial Academy to extend my limited lifespan, I had to be prepared.
“If we spar one-on-one, would they be very strong? Have you ever crossed swords with the rising stars of the Nine Great Sects or the Five Great Clans?”
Maeng Ryeong-ji had belittled them by mentioning their survival rates in the jungle, but I suspected that at the academy, there would be more fighting between martial artists than surviving in the wild.
“Umm…….”
She couldn't answer and just frowned.
If she had won, she would have said so immediately.
“This is my first time coming to the Central Plains, too.”
Like me, it seemed she had almost no experience fighting martial artists from the Central Plains.
……Then, aren't we both just hothouse flowers?
Ah, but perhaps the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace didn't coddle their daughters as much as my father did?
“Shall we go see them?”
When she saw my disappointed expression, Maeng Ryeong-ji grabbed my arm.
“Go see them? See what?”
“I heard there’s a disciple of the Mount Hua Sect taking the entrance exam. If we go now, we should be able to see him.”
Eh? She wanted to go see a rising star from the Nine Great Sects?
The Mount Hua Sect was one of the Nine Great Sects that upheld the Central Plains Murim.
If a rising star sent by them was there, they would likely be among the top contenders at the Heavenly Martial Academy.
I remembered my father mentioning a disciple of the Mount Hua Sect in passing.
“But wait, a Mount Hua disciple is taking the entrance exam? Why?”
If they were a disciple of such a great sect, wouldn't they, like me and Maeng Ryeong-ji, have all received recommendation plaques?
“I don’t know that much either.”
But Maeng Ryeong-ji didn't know everything.
In fact, she had only arrived in Luoyang a few days before me.
“We have to hurry if we want to go. Today is the last day of the entrance exam.”
“Is it okay to just watch?”
“Of course. The academy is open to the public while the entrance exams are being held.”
Ah, was that the place I saw when I arrived?
And a Mount Hua disciple was there, too?
“Would…… that be okay?”
It was a rather tempting offer.
“Wait a moment. Let me talk to my guard when he returns, and then we can go.”
I made a tentative decision and waited for Great Hall Master Baek-woong, who had gone out to take care of some business.
It wasn't long before he returned to the inn with the stirrups in his hand.
I immediately relayed my request to go watch the Mount Hua disciple before returning, but.
“Pardon? Absolutely not! If you suddenly pick a fight with a disciple of the Nine Great Sects, it could lead to a major problem!”
He said something completely off the mark.
“No, I meant that since they said he was taking the entrance exam, I just wanted to watch from afar.”
“Ah…… I see.”
Did he really think I would storm into the inn where the Mount Hua disciple was staying, like Maeng Ryeong-ji might?
Besides, why would I pick a fight?
“Haha, if that’s the case, then it doesn’t matter. Please, go ahead.”
He glanced at Maeng Ryeong-ji, wondering if I had already made a friend, and then— “However, you two must absolutely not cause any trouble in Luoyang. If there is someone you feel like beating to a pulp, you must drag them inside the academy or outside the city walls to settle it.”
He left behind nothing but that strange remark.
Honestly, I had no idea what he took me for.
— — —
* * *
— — —
A short while later, at the Heavenly Martial Academy.
The massive training ground was divided into ten sparring stages, and applicants were engaged in bouts simultaneously all over the place.
Among them, one spot was particularly crowded.
“I suppose that’s where the Mount Hua disciple is?”
We were able to decide our destination without difficulty.
I thought it might be a bit complicated due to the crowd, but people were startled by Maeng Ryeong-ji’s massive frame and readily cleared a path for us.
Thanks to that, she and I reached the very front of the sparring stage before long.
Two boys were on the stage.
It was obvious which of the two was stronger.
“Is that kid the disciple of the Mount Hua Sect?”
I pointed at the clean-cut, long-haired boy.
Wow, what is up with that beauty?
He still had a youthful air about him, but he was the textbook definition of the long-haired handsome man I had been looking forward to seeing since coming to the academy.
I widened my eyes, intent on examining his face in detail.
But before I could.
*Thwack!*
The dull sound of a wooden sword striking flesh pierced my ears, and blood spurted from the spot my finger was pointing at.
“Argh!”
The boy wearing the headband—the one who wasn’t handsome—screamed and collapsed to the ground.
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