Chapter 572: Even if I Go to Hell, I'll Go as the World's Number One

TL: FoodieMonster007

"I'm Geom Yeon, a new disciple in the White Dragon Class. Not the 'Yeon' for fate, but…"

A sharp sound cut through the air. Before he could finish his sentence, Yeom Baekjin launched a surprise attack, aiming to subdue Geom Mugeuk's acupoints.

However, Geom Mugeuk simply twisted his body with a light movement and evaded the assault.

"The 'Yeon' for smoke," he continued. "I'm someone who will vanish once this is all over. Forever."

Yeom Baekjin stared at his empty hand, which had only clutched the air. He felt a strange tremor. Was it fear? No, this was definitely a different kind of emotion.

He could understand it now. To see an opening where none existed meant that the vulnerability he saw was his own.

"Ah, of course, I didn't come to the Yellow Dragon Academy to learn martial arts," Geom Mugeuk said.

"Then why did you come?" Yeom Baekjin asked.

"I came to help a friend."

"……"

Geom Mugeuk had revealed himself today for two main reasons.

First, he needed to confirm that Yeom Baekjin was on the side that opposed Pyo San. The enemy of an enemy isn't always a friend. But in this urgent situation, where their foes were trying to kill even a blood relative of the Ghost Sect, he judged that joining forces with Yeom Baekjin was not a bad choice.

The second reason was, naturally, because of Seo Jin. If the wheel of fate carrying them both was destined to roll toward catastrophe, he was prepared to climb onto that wheel with her. To achieve that, he had to get close to Yeom Baekjin above all others.

"I'm not a member of the Ghost Sect, but I am someone who personally owes the Ghost Sect a great debt."

This was his way of saying he had come to help Seo Jin. It was not a lie. He truly did owe a significant debt to the Ghost Sect.

"Surely you don't think the Ghost Sect's leader would allow his own daughter to wander around by herself?"

"Then the woman named Lee Ahn is with you too?"

Geom Mugeuk nodded.

"We are protecting them."

They were protecting the daughter of the Ghost Sect's leader?

It was a story that made sense. The two of them had enrolled the day after Seo Jin arrived. And they had been spending time together ever since.

"I revealed myself because I believe the target of Seo Jin's revenge and Master Yeon's enemy are the same person."

Geom Mugeuk once again picked up a weapon from the pile and offered it to him.

"Are you now willing to search together?"

Yeom Baekjin tossed the sword back onto the scrap heap.

"I refuse."

His gaze moved to the new weapons that were hanging on the wall.

"With so many new ones being made every day, there's no reason to dig through scrap metal."

Even if the other man's words were true, he couldn't just believe him without proof.

Yeom Baekjin turned and departed from the area.

"If you're a new disciple, don't be late for class."

As he walked toward the entrance, a thought suddenly occurred to Yeom Baekjin.

But did this man overhear me when I was questioning Pyo San about that place?

Yeom Baekjin glanced back.

However, Geom Mugeuk was nowhere in sight. He had vanished at some point.

"Master Yeon has become aware of that place's existence."

Pyo San's burned face was throbbing, but he had no time to apply any medicine.

"Knowing Master Yeon's personality, he will continue to dig into it."

The Yellow Dragon Principal, Yeom Baekyin, simply stood with his hands clasped behind his back, saying nothing as he gazed out the window.

His subordinate, Gi Seok, shook his head, signaling for him to stop talking. But Pyo San couldn't restrain himself and added one more thing.

"As long as he knows the Principal will forgive him for whatever he does, Master Yeon will keep trying."

Honestly, if he had been alone with Gi Seok, he would have started with a curse.

Yeom Baekyin let out a soft sigh and turned to face Pyo San.

"Yes, I suppose you're right."

He walked toward Pyo San with a worried expression on his face.

"That's a severe burn. Let me see. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Thank you for your concern…"

With a sudden touch, Yeom Baekyin's fingertips made contact. Pyo San's neck twisted at an unnatural angle before snapping back into its proper place.

The move was so swift that his neck bone broke before he could even process what was happening. He collapsed to the floor with a heavy thud.

Looking down at the corpse, Yeom Baekyin let out a low groan filled with rage. The anger that escaped with the sound was not directed only at Pyo San.

In contrast, Gi Seok displayed no reaction to the death of his subordinate.

He believed it was appropriate to eliminate him now that Yeom Baekjin had fully involved himself in the situation. However, with his mouthpiece gone, he would now have to grit his teeth against the cold.

"The excavation is in its final stages?" Yeom Baekyin asked.

Gi Seok replied respectfully to his question.

"Yes. They say they've almost broken through. They will find the entrance soon."

A flash of intense emotion crossed Yeom Baekyin's eyes. Yes, they had to find it. He had become a Principal who would twist an instructor's neck for that single moment.

"We're almost there now."

Yeom Baekyin looked down at Pyo San's corpse once more, then gazed far out the window.

"Yes, the gates of hell are probably waiting for us."

At Yeom Baekyin's self-deprecating response, Gi Seok bowed his head respectfully.

"Even if you go to hell, you'll go as the world's number one."

Geom Mugeuk was at an inn drinking by himself, waiting for Lee Ahn and Seo Jin to get back.

Yeom Baekjin strode over to where he was sitting and set an old iron sword on the table.

"It seems there was one sword that didn't need to be thrown away."

He had discovered a usable sword in the scrap heap that was piled up at the smithy.

Geom Mugeuk looked up at him. He appeared different from when they had parted ways earlier. He seemed a bit more agitated now.

"Don't tell me you actually went back and searched for it?"

"I found it myself."

"I wouldn't have known if you'd just bought one on your way here."

Yeom Baekjin scoffed. It was a moment that offered a small glimpse into his personality.

"Why did you change your mind?"

It was because of the death of one person.

"Pyo San is dead. They say he hanged himself."

Yeom Baekjin knew the truth. His brother had killed him. This was the moment his lingering suspicion hardened into certainty.

"What in the world does he take me for!"

Despite the surprising news, Geom Mugeuk remained calm.

"Did you perhaps expect this?"

"Not exactly expected, but it's not surprising. These are the people who tried to kill even a blood relative of the Ghost Sect. Cutting off a subordinate whose identity has been exposed wouldn't be a problem for them. Here, have a seat. Eat if you haven't already."

Yeom Baekjin sat down. When he came here, his mind had been complicated and he hadn't been sure of his decision. But upon seeing Geom Mugeuk, he felt he had made the right choice. This young man possessed a strangely calming presence.

"A drink."

Geom Mugeuk poured him a drink.

"Another."

After he downed three consecutive cups of liquor, he revealed an unexpected fact.

"Master Lim came to see me before he died."

It was because of Lim Hyeon that Yeom Baekjin had become entangled in this affair.

"He said it seemed like something strange was happening within the academy."

Yeom Baekjin relayed the exact words that Lim Hyeon had told him.

Lim Hyeon first took notice of this matter two years ago. There was an exceptionally talented disciple he had personally taught in the White Dragon Class two years ago. He was highly skilled and had a great desire for success. At that rate, he was a shoo-in to pass the Yellow Dragon Class graduation exam, but one day he came to say his goodbyes, announcing he was quitting the martial arts academy. He said he at least wanted to bid farewell to his instructor.

Lim Hyeon tried to dissuade him, saying he would definitely graduate if he just endured a little longer, but the disciple left, insisting he had something he must do. At that time, he felt an unidentifiable yearning in the disciple's eyes. What was it that he sought to gain by throwing away all the time he had toiled?

After that incident passed, something similar happened again this year. This disciple was also guaranteed to pass the graduation exam, and in him, he saw the same yearning he had seen in that disciple's eyes back then. Thinking it was too strange, he began a secret investigation. He then found out that many disciples who were more than capable of passing the graduation exam had quit in the last three years.

Because so many people attended the academy, no one had paid attention to this fact. If someone said they were quitting, what was there to say? They must have had their reasons.

"He came to me saying it was strange no matter how he looked at it. He asked me to look into it. To be honest, even when I heard that, I didn't think it was particularly strange."

He emptied his cup again.

"Two days after he came to see me, Master Lim died."

Yeom Baekjin's gaze, which had been fixed on his empty cup, shifted to Geom Mugeuk.

"That was truly strange."

Around that time, he had been feeling that his brother, the Principal, had changed a lot from how he used to be. He had become sensitive and cold in some way. However, he hadn't thought his brother was involved in killing an instructor. Today, Pyo San's death made it certain. His brother was involved in Lim Hyeon's death as well.

"That place you asked about when you were questioning Pyo San earlier, where does that refer to?"

"So you did overhear."

He had already come here with the intention of telling him everything.

"I found out by secretly investigating the martial arts academy's finances. They were spending money to purchase materials for a large-scale construction project."

That was the reason he had pressed Pyo San about the location. He wanted to find out where and what kind of construction was taking place.

"This is all I know."

"Thank you for telling me."

Thanks to him, he finally understood why Lim Hyeon had lost his life. He had even gained the valuable information that some secret construction project was underway.

Yeom Baekjin silently emptied his cup. It was a guilt he didn't need to carry, but Geom Mugeuk could sense that he felt a slight sense of debt regarding Lim Hyeon's death.

The Yeom Baekjin of now was not a villain. No matter how he looked at it, he wasn't a villain pretending to be good either.

Why would such an ordinary person walk such a path? When Seo Jin had her revenge, his brother was already dead. At the time, he had naturally assumed Yeom Baekjin had killed him.

A person like you, why did you walk a path of fate where you killed your brother and even the woman you loved?

Geom Mugeuk's gaze fell upon the iron sword Yeom Baekjin had brought. In any case, one thing was certain. The moment he chose this sword, the wheel of fate must have begun to turn in a slightly different direction.

Geom Mugeuk slowly drew the iron sword and said, "You found a good one. This sword is now fated not to be melted in a fiery pit."

The mechanism was descending endlessly into the ground.

Yeom Baekyin was riding alone in the space, which could fit one person. He was staring at his own reflection on the mechanism's metal surface. It was a face that had become unfamiliar at some point.

With a heavy thud, the mechanism stopped and its door opened.

A martial artist was waiting in front of it. He was a familiar face, a man from the Yellow Dragon Academy.

"Follow me, stepping only where I step."

Yeom Baekyin followed him.

The floor was marked with lines like a Go board, and each one was painted a different color.

Yeom Baekyin stepped where the guide stepped.

Along the way, sections of the walls were torn open. The complex devices visible inside were terrifying mechanisms. Some were already completely dismantled, while others remained intact, meaning a wrong step on the floor could cost him his life.

There were places where he had to cross on a single rope, and others where he had to climb up only to slide back down. There were also places where he had to crawl through small passages and even swim through water. It was truly a maze that was impossible to navigate without a guide. He had come several times over the past three years, but the path sometimes changed, confusing him each time.

And then they arrived at the final space.

In that wide, plaza-like area, former disciples of the Yellow Dragon Academy were working diligently. There were those cutting walls with sword qi, those looking down at blueprints and writing something diligently, and also those carrying boxes.

They had not been dragged here. They were all people who had chosen this voluntarily.

They were being paid a massive monthly sum, incomparable to the jobs they could have chosen after leaving the martial arts academy. It was an amount that would allow all of them to achieve their dreams once this job was finished.

And there he was.

The man who had changed not only his own life as the Yellow Dragon Principal, but the lives of everyone here.

The first thing the man had said when he came to him was this.

"You're going to have to dig some ground with me."

He was a very handsome middle-aged man with an affable impression. There was a relaxed look in his eyes, and a hint of mischief played on the corners of his slightly upturned lips.

The man, with his hair tied back tightly, was running around shirtless and barefoot. The numerous scars on his body spoke of the past he had lived.

"I said, watch out over there!"

The moment the man's shout erupted toward a young man, a huge chunk of iron, several times the size of a person, fell toward his head.

The chunk of iron was so large that Yeom Baekyin thought not even a trace of the body would be found.

As the rising dust settled, everyone stared at the spot with shocked expressions.

The giant chunk of iron was split in half, and two people were standing between the pieces.

The man was standing next to the young man. He had been quite far away when he shouted, but in an instant, he had flown to the spot and cut the chunk of iron in half.

The cut surface was so clean and smooth it seemed to shine. Surprisingly, the man had cut this large chunk of iron without emitting sword qi. Nor had he cut it with a treasured sword. The sword in the man's hand was an old iron sword that could be found anywhere in the marketplace. At the man's divine skill, not only Yeom Baekyin but everyone there showed a sense of awe. The move he had just displayed was truly the pinnacle of swordsmanship.

The man lightly smacked the back of the young man's head.

"Trying to die before you even get to spend your money?"

"I'm sorry. Thank you for saving me."

The young man bowed deeply. The other young men also expressed their gratitude. There wasn't a single one of them who hadn't been helped by this man at least once.

"Everyone, clear this away first!"

"……"

The young men gathered to clear away the chunk of iron. They began to break it into pieces by generating sword qi. When they first came here, most of them couldn't even generate sword qi, but now they all did so skillfully.

The man stood for a long while, making sure even the cleanup of the iron chunk was taken care of, before he finally turned toward Yeom Baekyin.

"It's been a while."

The man brushed the dust from his body with his hands and walked over with a bright smile.

"Did something interesting happen in the outside world?"