Star Instructor, Master Baek

TL: FoodieMonster007

Mighty Blade struggled to maintain his composure. His gaze locked onto Wiji Cheon in front of him, but his eyes flicked back to Cheoldu behind him as he demanded, “Who’s behind this? Cheoldu, why do you and that kid from the Azure Dragon Academy look like you’re on the same side? No matter how I think about it, this doesn’t make any sense.”

Before him stood an improbable alliance—a ragtag group from the Ironhead Sect, the lowest of the low, alongside a student from the renowned Azure Dragon Academy, one of the murim’s Five Great Academies. It was a baffling combination, and Mighty Blade could hardly believe his eyes.

“Even if we fight, you owe me an explanation. I’m so curious that I don’t think I could die peacefully without knowing,” he taunted, his mocking grin shifting from Cheoldu to Wiji Cheon, though his eyes glinted with lethal intent.

“Did the Azure Dragon Academy come up with this plan? There’s no way this came from your thick skull, Cheoldu. And those rumors about the Scarlet Tiger Gang? They were lies, weren’t they? This was a setup from the start, wasn’t it?”

“……”

“Answer me, you fucking bastards!” Mighty Blade yelled, releasing a burst of killing intent that made even his own disciples shiver.

Cheoldu stepped forward, positioning himself beside Wiji Cheon. “Hey, fat pig,” he said, unfazed by the oppressive atmosphere. “Let me set the record straight. We’re not the Ironhead Sect anymore.”

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“No way… You joined the Scarlet Tiger Gang? That’s impossible. You wouldn’t bow that stubborn head of yours to anyone…”

“We now go by the name ‘Rehabilitation Sect’,” Cheoldu declared seriously.

Mighty Blade and his followers blinked in shock.

“The Rehabilitation… Sect? What kind of ridiculous joke is that? Are you making fun of me?” Mighty Blade snarled.

Cheoldu proudly puffed out his chest. “We’ve sworn to clean up our act. No more extortion, no more senseless fights. We’re gonna train the right way and become real martial artists.”

This was the first time Cheoldu had publicly declared the name ‘Rehabilitation Sect’. In effect, he was announcing the birth of a new sect.

Even though the real Sect Leader isn’t here…

Baek Suryong was the true Sect Leader, but the world would soon recognize Cheoldu as its face.

“Haha. What a pile of crap,” Mighty Blade chuckled, looking at Cheoldu with pity. “The Rehabilitation Sect? Cheoldu, do you know what happens when a rat from the sewers tries to crawl into a clean place? It gets stomped to death for being dirty. Whoever’s been filling your head with nonsense, stop listening. Know your place.”

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Mighty Blade then turned to Wiji Cheon. “Boy, if I had gotten married, I’d have five kids your age by now. You seem pretty confident in your martial arts, but arrogance like that will get you killed before you can even grow up.”

The tension in the air heightened. Mighty Blade’s coat flapped wildly, and a dark aura began to ripple along the edge of his dao.

Cheoldu gulped nervously, watching the scene unfold. What the hell? Was Mighty Blade always this strong?

Mighty Blade, the eldest of the Mighty Bear Trio and undisputed leader of the Great Bear Gang, had always been seen as weaker than the Scarlet Tiger Boss. Now, though, it dawned on Cheoldu that Mighty Blade had been concealing his true power all this time so that his enemies would drastically underestimate him.

Maybe he’s not so different from the Scarlet Tiger Boss after all…

Cheoldu tightened his grip on his twin hatchets, feeling a surge of trepidation wash over him.

Mighty Blade, his eyes gleaming with killing intent, growled, “This is my final warning. Get out of my way now, and I’ll let you live. I need to check on my idiot brothers. Something’s happened, and I need to make sure they’re alright. Well? Scram!”

He took a step forward, but Wiji Cheon and Cheoldu stood firm, blocking his path.

“That’s not happening.”

“You’re going to die here today.”

“Haha, are you serious? Do you think the two of you can stop me?” Mighty Blade laughed, even as he stomped his foot and launched himself forward with the force of a cannonball. His massive dao, far too heavy for most men to lift, spun effortlessly in his hands, and as he brought it down in a wide arc, the sheer force seemed to rip the air apart.

BOOM!

Wiji Cheon and Cheoldu barely leaped aside, nearly losing their balance as the ground shook from the impact of the dao, sending up a cloud of dust that obscured their view.

“Hmph! Rats,” Mighty Blade sneered. He swung his blade at Cheoldu, planning to eliminate the weaker opponent first.

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Seeing the huge dao slicing through the dust, Cheoldu gritted his teeth, knowing he couldn’t dodge. He crossed his hatchets to block the attack, but the force still sent him tumbling ten meters across the ground.

“Ugh…” Cheoldu groaned. It was only a single blow, but his hatchets were cracked and he could feel that his arms were fractured.

Still, Cheoldu wasn’t the one most surprised.

“You blocked that? When did you learn martial arts?” Mighty Blade asked incredulously.

“……” His energy drained, Cheoldu could not respond. Sweat dripped down his face as he struggled to stand.

If it weren’t for the martial arts the Sect Leader taught me… I’d be dead, he thought, relieved. Even though he had only been learning the Thunderclap Axe from Baek Suryong for a few days, the technique had just saved his life.

Mighty Blade scowled, frustrated that his attack had been blocked. He marched toward Cheoldu, threatening, “If you refuse to die cleanly, I’ll just turn you into minced meat.”

Before he could strike again, however, a frigid voice sounded from behind him.

“I think you’ve got it backwards. You’re the one who’s going to die.”

Mighty Blade spun around, swinging his dao instinctively. Sparks flew as it clashed with a sword. He pushed to drive his opponent back, but the sword slithered along the dao’s surface like a snake, darting toward him in a sudden flash.

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Although Mighty Blade jerked his head aside just in time, the sword still grazed his cheek, drawing blood.

“I’m your opponent,” Wiji Cheon declared coldly, stepping in front of Cheoldu, his sword raised and aimed at Mighty Blade.

Gritting his teeth, Mighty Blade wiped the blood from his cheek. “Now even a brat is pissing me off. Fine. I’ll kill all of you!”

With a roar, Mighty Blade lunged at Wiji Cheon, drawing on every ounce of his strength as he swung his dao wildly. In response, Wiji Cheon crouched low, thrusting his sword to meet the attack.

As the clash of steel reverberated through the air, fiery sparks exploded from the impact.

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A few hours earlier.

Baek Suryong gathered the students and made a sudden announcement, “Tomorrow at dawn, freelancers from the Great Bear Gang will move to ambush the Scarlet Tiger Gang. You will wait for the right moment and ambush them instead.”

“What?”

Confusion swept through the students, so Baek Suryong quickly explained the situation. The night before, Dokgo Jun had killed the underboss and key lieutenants of the Scarlet Tiger Gang. Sensing an opportunity, the Great Bear Gang was now preparing to wipe out their rivals.

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With a serious look on his face, Baek Suryong explained, “If we leave it alone, the slums will descend into chaos. As you should know by now, the weak will suffer the most from a war between these two sects.”

Though it was Baek Suryong’s own plan that had lured the Great Bear Gang into this situation, he conveniently left out that detail. After all, the students didn’t need to know every part of the plan for their sense of justice to burn.

It’s not like I’m lying.

Both the Great Bear Gang and the Scarlet Tiger Gang were festering wounds in the slums, and Baek Suryong was merely using the opportunity to provide a valuable lesson for the students.

As expected, the students were outraged.

“Those scum! How much more do they need to torment the powerless?”

“I’ve lost count of the times I’ve wanted to storm their hideouts!”

“Let’s stop them!”

Though their time patrolling the slums was short, they had seen enough suffering to understand the gravity of the situation. This wasn’t just about martial arts anymore, these experiences would shape their growth and ultimately benefit their martial path.

Baek Suryong, pleased with their reactions, smiled slightly as he surveyed their determined faces. “Now, I’ll tell you who your opponents will be among the Great Bear Gang freelancers.”

He briefed them on the eight freelancers that made up the core of the gang and assigned each student to their targets.

“The second and third brothers of the Mighty Bear Trio will be working together. Ya Suhyeok, Geo Sangwoong, you two will handle them.”

“Yes!”

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“Buster Sword and Ironfist are heading this way. The Azure Dragon Twins, you’ll take care of them.”

“Understood.”

“Death Sickle and Lone Wolf are also ones to watch. Yeo Min, you’ll team up with Cheong Cheon.”

“Got it.”

“One freelancer will stay inside the Great Bear hideout… Hyonwon Kang, can you handle it?”

“Leave it to me!”

“They’ll move separately to avoid arousing our suspicion and to keep the Scarlet Tiger Gang from finding out about the ambush. This is the perfect chance to take them down one by one.”

Baek Suryong gave his instructions confidently, as if he could see the enemy’s camp himself. Thanks to the Rogues’ Guild, which controlled all information in the slums, and Bok Manchun’s deep connections among freelancers, he had gathered detailed intel on the eight targets.

However, his final decision still left everyone puzzled.

“Wiji Cheon, you will face Mighty Blade alone.”

“What?”

“Mr. Baek!”

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The students looked back and forth between Baek Suryong and Wiji Cheon, shocked. Mighty Blade was the de facto leader of the Great Bear Gang. Although the brothers were known as the Mighty Bear Trio, it was common knowledge that Mighty Blade’s strength alone surpassed his siblings combined. Anyone who had spent a day listening to rumors in the slums would know this.

Leaving such a powerful opponent to a first-year student…

Even if Wiji Cheon is the top student and a prodigy…

As the senior students exchanged worried glances, Baek Suryong dropped another bombshell.

“Cheon, don’t kill him, just subdue him.”

“Mr. Baek, that’s too much to ask,” Dokgo Jun objected and stepped forward. He had recently experienced firsthand how difficult it was to hold back in a fight to the death. Even if one was leagues above his opponent, holding back in battle could easily get one killed.

“I know how incredible Wiji Cheon is, but Mighty Blade isn’t someone you can take lightly,” he added.

“I’m aware of that,” Baek Suryong acknowledged, his gaze fixed on Wiji Cheon. “Cheon, your opponent is the kind of scum the world would be better off without. Do you know why he retired from freelancing despite his skills? It’s because his involvement in countless dirty deeds has ruined his reputation to the point where no one will hire him anymore.”

“……”

“Even so, you must subdue him without killing him. Do you understand why?”

Wiji Cheon thought for a moment, then nodded. “You’re telling me not to be swayed by my sword’s voice, right?”

“Exactly.”

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Although Wiji Cheon had mostly overcome the qi deviation caused by learning the fake Unlimited Sword, the aftereffects still lingered. Sometimes the sword would still whisper to him, begging him to kill his opponent. The scary thing was that every time he followed the call of the sword, he felt a strange sense of freedom, and his swordplay surged beyond its normal limits.

Of course, Baek Suryong knew what this phenomenon was.

Wiji Cheon is on the verge of awakening to the Killing Sword.

Swordsmen who awakened to the Killing Sword could often defeat opponents stronger than themselves. The real danger lay in being consumed by it and turning into a bloodthirsty monster, leading many to consider it an evil art.

Baek Suryong, however, did not share this view. To him, the Killing Sword was a mental martial art that enabled a person to enter a certain state of mind, as opposed to qi deviation, which caused true madness.

“Cheon, you must learn to control your killing intent. Even if you are facing someone who deserves to die, you must be able to restrain your sword,” he stressed.

Still, no matter how much advice he gave, in the end, this was an obstacle that Wiji Cheon would have to overcome on his own. After all, it was the boy’s will that guided the blade.

Wiji Cheon nodded earnestly. “I’ll do my best. I won’t kill him.”

“Hah…hah… He’s stronger than I thought…” Wiji Cheon wheezed, feeling his legs wobble. His clothes were torn, and blood stained the fabric in several places.

“You damned brat! Are you toying with me?!” Mighty Blade roared. Like Wiji Cheon, he was battered and bruised, but his face was flushed with rage.

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Scratching his head in embarrassment, Wiji Cheon chuckled weakly, “Oh, so you noticed I’ve been holding back. That’s because I promised my teacher that I wouldn’t kill you.”

“What the hell are you talking about?! I’ll kill you!” Mighty Blade charged, swinging his massive dao ferociously.

Wiji Cheon focused his mind. Mighty Blade’s attacks had indeed been overwhelming at first, but the true trial only began when he started to recognize the patterns in the gang leader’s technique.

Kill! Kill! Kill! The sword’s voice echoed in his mind, tempting him.

Several times, he almost gave in, but each time, he resisted.

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Wiji Cheon smiled to dampen some of his killing intent. “No… I won’t kill him.”

“Arghhh!”

“A guy like this… isn’t worth killing.”

Wiji Cheon’s sword, originally aimed at Mighty Blade’s heart, changed its course at the last moment. The two figures blurred as they crossed paths in an instant.

“Y-You…!” Mighty Blade’s eyes blazed with anger as he turned to glare at Wiji Cheon. He moved to attack, only to find that his weapon was still eerily left behind in its original position.

CLANG!

The enormous weapon clattered to the ground with a heavy thud.

Mighty Blade collapsed to his knees, finally realizing his arm had been severed from the shoulder down.

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