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Chapter 12

The Great Martial Path Entrance Exam (5)

If ascending to the Celestial Realm meant becoming an immortal and leaving the mortal world, then why hadn’t anyone filled the Lord’s position?

Noticing Yise’s puzzlement, Hong Mi-hee smiled. “The highest-ranking senior Cultivator in the Great Martial Path right now is Hae It, the Azure Dragon Pavilion Master. He declared that he wouldn’t inherit the position until he matched the Lord’s level. Which means the other Pavilion Masters below him can’t exactly step up either, so… the seat has just been left vacant.”

After that explanation, Hong Mi-hee transitioned toward Kang Yitae and asked,

“Should we ask Senior Hae II or the Grand Commander? Those see how tense they seem like they’d know.”

“We’d be lucky if the Azure Dragon Pavilion Master didn’t chase us away for being a nuisance. The Grand Commander is currently away, but I’ll try to get a message to him once the boy officially joins the sect. Though, given how insanely busy both of those people are, who knows if they’d even an eye at the problems of a Qi Condensation Realm disciple…”

A constitution was ultimately just a constitution.

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If it’s were any other sect, they probably would have drained their entire treasury to nurture him into a core pillar of their faction. But the Great Martial Path didn’t believe that the strong survived; they believed that only those who survived were strong. Because of that brutal philosophy, it was incredibly common for even one-in-a-million geniuses to drop dead before ever breaking out of the Qi Condensation Realm.

“Far enough, but you’d think it’d take a little since he has the same constitution as the Lord. You know how our Grand Commander comes completely starry-eyed over anything related to the Lord. Anyway, kid, just keep your head down and focus on surviving the trials for now.’Id be a real bummer if you messed up and a side effect of your constitution caused your body to explode.”

“Yes, I’ll be careful.”

Yise nodded politely before immediately changing the subject, “If there’s nothing else you need from me, would it be alright for me to head back? I need to eat do my afternoon training.”

Skipping his daily training routine was a taboo he absolutely refused to compromise on.

“What an odd little kid.”

“Ah. It’s probably because of Big Sis Mong Ryeon. She puts a huge emphasis on eating regularity.”

Gong Wol-ah giggled as she replied to Hong Mi-hee’s remark.

After lightly scolding the Ghostkin for grinning like an idiot, Hong Mi-hee turned and pocked Kang Yitae in the ribs with her closed fan. “I have to admit, there are actually quite a few promising kids in this batch. I honestly thought you’d just been slacking off this whole time, but I guess you really were working.”

“I’d rather not hear that kind of comment from you, all people, Pavilion Master Hong.”

“Excuse me? What is that supposed to mean?”

“Don’t you have the lowest mission acceptance rate of any Pavilion Master in all of the Great Martial Path?”

“That’s because I actually have a real job to do. Where do you think all the Dharma Treasures you meatheads use come from? What about the elixirs? The talismans?”

“That is simply duty as a Pavillion master.”

“Owie, I simbow fowwow owotocow.” Hong Mi-hee’s expression twisted into something grotesque.

Watching her waste that pretty face of just hours to mock him, Kang Yitae yitae flexed his hand over her four centuries old.

“Who in their right mind would look at this woman and think she was an enlightened Daoist over four centuries old?”

“I did no such thing. I simply asked you to act your age.”

“That’s the same thing”

Hong Mi-hee funned, while Kang Yitae frowned. Beside them, Gong Wol-ah was happily clapping her hands at the entertainment.

“If there’s nothing more to discuss, I’ll be taking my leave.”

“Why not stay and chat a while longer?”

“We both have actual jobs to do.”

The three Pavilion masters laughed and chatted for a while longer before slowly rising to their feet.

Kang Yitae grimaced.

Hong Mi-hee, the Vermillion Bird Pavilion Master.

Also known as the resident madwoman.

She had a mountain of skills and abilities, but her single greatest asset was her peerless eye for spotting talents and unique constitutions.

It was no exaggeration to call it the finest on the continent.

If someone of her caliber is genuinely excited, this means a batch is really brimming with promising talents.

Kang Yitae felt a heavy weight setting upon both of his shoulders.

‘What a long day.’

After finally finishing his evening training, Yise returned to his quarters.

It was cramped, but it was at least private.

Considering they had over a hundred and sixty takings the trials, it gave a real sense of just how deep the Great Martial Path’s resources ran.

“And they even gave me a Night Pearl for lighting, even if it is a bit on the small side.”

He’d heard that basically every teenager in the Three Kingdoms of the Peninsula was desperate to join the Great Martial Path, but an appointed elite sect was elite for a reason.

For Yise, having a private room meant nobody was going to bother him.

Rustle.

He flipped to the next page of his book.

Under normal circumstances, it would already be time for him to go to sleep. He was someone who adhered to his schedule without deviating by even a single minute, but he knew he had to read the Great Martial Path Foundational Manual at least once, even if it meant cutting into his sleep time.

He’d only managed to skim a few sections on his first night, and he’d obviously been too busy fighting for his life in the trials during the day.

The first page of the book laid out the Ten Commandments of the Demon Slayer.

Mong Ryeon had drilled these into his ears so many times that he could recite them in his sleep.

Yise turned to the next page.

Next came a simple organizational chart of the Great Martial Path. It was far too basic to be considered classified information and simply meant to convey the internal hierarchy.

At the very top sat the Lord of the Great Martial Path and the Grand Commander who supported them.

Below that are the eleven pavilions collectively known as the Eleven Inner Pavilions.

Disciples belonging to an Inner Pavilion were called Core Disciples, and one had to reach at the Foundation Establishment Realm to qualify.

All disciples not affiliated with an Inner Pavilion were called Formal Disciples, and they carried out various missions. In practice, the vast majority of disciples fell into this category.

Beyond that, there were the Outer Disciples who weren’t Formal Disciples but worked in support roles under the Great Martial Path’s banner, and the Secular Branch Disciples, former Formal Disciples who had gone independent and established their own secular families.

These were the individuals who made up the Great Martial Path.

“It doesn’t actually give any real numbers, though.”

All the important-looking details were omitted. But if Yise has to guess, the estimated number if he combined all of the main and side branches would probably range from several thousand to close to ten thousand.

Rustle.

He flipped to the next page.

The next section laid out the various rules a Great Martial Path disciple was expected to know.

Do not hunt Spirit Beasts.

Do not harvest Spirit Herbs.

Do not kill fellow Great Martial Path disciples or cripple their Spirit Roots.

Do not travel outside of the Great Martial Path’s territorial limit.

Hazardous zones to avoid according to your cultivation realm.

Standard Operating Procedure for encountering Demons higher than your realm.

Standard Operating Procedure for encountering Rogue Cultivators.

Standard Operating Procedure for encountering Demonic Sects’ disciples or rival cultivation factions.

And beyond those, there were rules stating that one should use the title “Senior” as a mark of respect for cultivators of a higher realm, or use terms like “Fellow Daoist” or “Cultivator” when addressing peers.

As he read the book, it felt like some material one needed to learn as a disciple of the sect and more like general etiquette expected of any Cultivator.

Lines like these really broke the point down:

[Demons wear their intentions on their sleeves. However, it is exceedingly common for a Cultivator to be pure white on the outside, yet pitch-black on the inside. When facing an enemy of equal cultivation realm, nine times out of ten, a fellow Cultivator is far more dangerous than any Demons.]

[If a foreign Cultivator extends goodwill for no apparent reason, you can be sure there is a hidden motive behind it larger than whatever kindness is on display.]

[Statistically speaking, nine out of ten people who sign a private Soul-Binding Contract with another individual are worked like slaves before being murdered.]

The latter half of the book systematically organized information on the Qi Condensation Realm Demons of all grades that recruits would typically run into on field missions.

Most of it was information he had already learned, though the occasional new detail caught his eye.

Apparently, the grading system was put in place because Cultivators at the Qi Condensation Realm often overestimate their own strength and die in drowns. That’s why the sect decided to rank the Demons by duere danger level instead of cultivation realms. That way, the rookies could gradually work their way up the ladder and hopefully bump up their miserable survival rates.

Fight with your life on the line, but do not treat your life cheaply.

It was a line that blatantly showed just how stressed the Great Martial Path’s command was about keeping their recruits alive, which made Yise crack a faint smile.

Yise devoured the pages like a starving man savoring a five-star meal.

He had no idea who actually wrote this manual, but he genuinely thought their writing skills were absolutely phenomenal.

The third day of trial began.

The third trial was a test of martial might.

Thirteen candidates were grouped together to engage in a free-for-all brawl, while the proctors scored them.

In a way, one could say this was the very first test that actually felt like a proper trial.

The faces of the first thirteen applicants were visibly tense as they were called forward.

“Look at the markings on the floor.”

Kang Yitae explained the simple rules. “This is a Formation that restricts the use of Spirit Qi. From this point on, you will rely entirely on nothing but your body to beat one another until only one person remains standing. If you fall or step outside the Formation, your evaluation ends there. Prepare yourselves.”

“Begin.”

A moment later, the trial commenced.

The applicants who had at first shuffled around sizing each other up soon merged into a fierce and chaotic brawl.

It was incredibly chaotic, but…

“They’re terrible.”

Compared to the brutal, bone-breaking sparring sessions he used to have with the Ghostkin kids, this was basically just a toddler’s playground roughhousing in Yise’s eyes.

But even so, he had to admit their desperation to pass. Even with busted lips and blood pouring down their chimes, almost all of the kids kept throwing themselves into the brawl.

Wait, No. That wasn’t fair.

Their fighting wasn’t below standard. It was Yise’s training with the Young Ghostkin that had been beyond normal.

Watching these normal humans genuinely push their bodies to their limits, Yise quickly reconsidered his judgment.

Finally, when only one incredibly battered kid with a face bruised beyond reason stood out, the first group’s trial concluded.

“Jo Seong-min. Wang Jae. Eliminated.”

Out of thirteen, two eut.

Yise tried to figure out the criteria but found it slightly puzzling. The candidate named Wang Jae had lasted nearly to the very end.

“That guy practically just spent the whole time running away. It seems you fail if you do not fight with all your might.”

Only after hearing Hae Un-chan’s comment did Yise let out a brief noise of understanding.

The next group was called, and three people were eliminated this time.

By the halfway point, each group averaged about two eliminations.

The atmosphere grew increasingly intense as injuries began to pile up. After one applicant literally bit off a competitor’s ear and turned the ring into a bloodbath, some of the watching applicants began even to draw heavy.

Despite this, the proctors did nothing to intervene. In fact, the applicant who had bitten off the ear even roared, looking incredibly smug like he knew he just secured a top score.

You failed if your physical abilities are too poor to meet the minimum bar.

You failed if you are too passive, or if you give up far too easily after taking a few hits.

No matter how he looked at it, this was too unhinged to be the entrance exam of an elite cultivation sect.

He wonders if he knocked on the wrong door a few days ago.