ESGW 11🔐

 Chapter 11 …..

Taechun had to be tested first—to see if he would respond properly when Taechun walked in.

“Eumgi Eungmyeon (Yin Qi Reflecting Surface),
Suhyeong Yonghae (Water Form Dissolving),
Simsik Naejang (Heart-Breath Hidden Within),
Heohyeong Jangin (Empty Form Seal Concealed).”

As he chanted the incantation, his body began to turn transparent.
With his transparent body, Jeok Wigang pressed himself against the wall.
Then he immediately called for Taechun.

“Taechun! You outside?”

In response to Wigang’s call, Taechun opened the door and stepped inside.

“Young master. Did you call for me?”

This time, his clone spoke instead of Jeok Wigang.

“I’m going to focus on books for a while. Bring me a Bowl-Grain Pill and some water.”
“Again? Your body will give out if you keep doing this.”
“It’s important.”
“Sigh… Understood.”

Taechun shook his head and left.

Seeing that, Jeok Wigang covered his mouth as he struggled not to laugh.

Perfect.

His clone had responded flawlessly to Taechun.
Now, it was time to head out for the real experiment.

Time to follow Father’s words—
Time to go make evil repent.

Guangjian Sect (Mad Sword Sect), at the foot of Huangcheon Mountain, Jiangxi Province.

Just like their name implied, this sect was a gathering place for people mad about swords.
Among them, the maddest of all was the Sect Leader, Jin Gwang-hon.

Training at Guangjian Sect was always indistinguishable from real combat.
It was common for disciples to die during training, but Jin Gwang-hon stubbornly upheld this method.

Of course, the disciples liked this method.

They were people who believed the weak deserved to be weeded out.
Only the strong had the right to survive.
A clan of lunatics who gathered to train the sword.

If they confined themselves to just beating each other up, it wouldn’t be a problem.
But they believed the weak had no reason to exist,
and harassed nearby sects.

The smaller sects nearby had even formed an alliance to fend them off,
yet they barely managed to stop Guangjian Sect each time, while suffering huge losses.

Guangjian Sect actually welcomed that.
The ordeal made them stronger,
and they made others stronger as well.
They saw it as beneficial for everyone.

They never once thought they were in the wrong.

Some sects fled to other regions to escape Guangjian Sect,
but those with ancestral grounds here desperately struggled to keep their land.

And as usual, Guangjian Sect gathered their disciples today to challenge the regional alliance.

“This time, don’t back down! We are the strongest in Jiangxi!”
“Yes, sir!”

With excited faces, the disciples were eager to fight.

“Let’s go! Time to awaken the true spirit of warriors in those Jiangxi Alliance brats!”
“Hah!”
“March!”
“March!”

At the Sect Leader’s cry, the disciples raised their swords and prepared to depart.

Just then—
something stood in their path.

“What’s that?”
“Looks like a kid?”
“He’s wearing a mask?”
“Damn it! On the day of our great march, some brat dares block the way?!”
“Hey! Move him aside!”

A disciple approached the masked child to shove him aside.

BAM—!

With a thunderous crash, the disciple was slammed into the ground, twitching and unable to rise.

The momentum of Guangjian Sect evaporated instantly.

The child spoke as all eyes fixed on him.

Jeok Wigang.

“This is the Guangjian Sect, right? The place full of sword-crazed idiots?”

The Sect Leader stepped forward.

“That’s right. And who might you be?”
“Who else? Someone stronger than all of you. Come play with me.”
“…You’re insane.”
“You’ll find out soon enough. There’s a lot of you, so I’ll go first, yeah?”

Before he finished speaking, Jeok Wigang dashed forward.

“Show this brat the terror of Guangjian Sect!”

At the command, the frontmost disciples unsheathed their swords and charged.

Swoosh—!

Their ferocious eyes and slicing blades aimed to cut Wigang down in one strike—

Thud! Thud! Thud—!

“Guhk!”
“Kehk!”

They were knocked away so fast no one even saw how.

The Sect Leader had believed the first disciple lost because he was careless.
But this—
this was no simple trick.

Even I couldn’t see it.

The Sect Leader swallowed hard.

This opponent was far above him.

Thud, thud, thud—!

Guangjian Sect’s warriors fell like bundles of straw.
Jeok Wigang didn’t need many moves.
One blow per person.

In moments, over a hundred disciples were collapsed on the ground foaming at the mouth.
Only the Sect Leader remained.

He heard Wigang’s disappointed voice behind him.

“What’s this? That’s all? Disappointing. I heard you were sword maniacs, but you can’t even swing properly?”

Those words struck at his pride like a dagger.

Grinding his teeth, the Sect Leader unsheathed his sword and charged.

“Don’t you dare mock us! Mad Heaven Duel Path (Gwangcheon Turo)!”

The sword thrust wildly in unpredictable trajectories—

Swish—

Wigang dodged effortlessly.
He grinned.

“So the Sect Leader is different.”

Seeing him laugh with excitement only infuriated the Sect Leader further.

“Aaaaaagh! Die!”

He swung faster, but not a single strike landed.

Wigang dodged by the narrowest margins, making it obvious he was avoiding the attacks on purpose.

The Sect Leader knew.
Wigang was toying with him.

Hummmmmm—

His sword began glowing with bluish sword-qi.

“Mad-Slaughter River-Heaven (Gwangsal Gangcheon)!”

Qi erupted from the blade, surging at Wigang with vicious force—
yet still not a single blow landed.

“Oh! That one was better. But aren’t you getting too excited? If you calm down, your attacks might be sharper.”
“Shut up!”
“I’m giving advice because I want to help.”
“I SAID SHUT UP!”
“Not one for listening to good advice, huh?”
“DIEEEE!”

He wanted to tear that brat’s mouth off—
but he couldn’t even touch him.

“Come on, give me a little more effort. You almost hit me just now.”

No.
He could see it clearly.
Wigang was dodging with ease.

Furious, the Sect Leader tried to draw out more internal energy—

Cough—!

“Gahk!”

His qi and blood reversed violently.

“See? Didn’t I tell you? Calm down before attacking.”
“Please… shut… up…”
“Nope. Not today. I’ll come back tomorrow. Go rest for now.”

Thunk—!

A heavy blow struck his head, and his vision faded.

“This is surprisingly fun. I’ll come again.”

An actual demon.
He had met the spawn of a demon.

That was his last thought before blacking out.

Next Day

Jin Gwang-hon awoke in his room.
He jumped up and checked his body.

Nothing wrong.

But his qi had definitely been twisted yesterday.
He checked again.

Still nothing.

A dream?

His face!
He had been hit in the face!

He grabbed a mirror—
Nothing.

What?

Was it all a dream?

Leaving his room, he found disciples in confusion.

“Sect Leader! You’re awake!”
“Y-yes.”
“Do you recall what happened yesterday?”
“Yesterday?”
“Everyone is confused right now.”
“What about?”
“We all had the same dream.”
“A dream where an unknown masked figure defeated us all.”

His expression hardened.

Not a dream, then?

“But it’s strange. We were struck hard enough to faint, but no one has injuries.”
“It’s unnatural.”
“Perhaps someone cast a demonic art on us?”

The Sect Leader’s pupils trembled.

A demonic art?
But by who?
He had far too many enemies to guess.

Most likely culprit: the Jiangxi Alliance.

“They must have cast a spell on us.”
“That must be it! Otherwise how could we all dream the same dream?”
“Let’s go attack the Jiangxi Alliance right now!”
“Yes!”

The disciples rose in fury.

They were convinced the “dream” was caused by the Jiangxi Alliance.
The Sect Leader nodded; he had no other explanation.

“Fine. Let’s crush them and get answers. Move out!”
“Woooo!”
“All troops, march on the Jiangxi Alliance!”
“March!”

Just like yesterday, they prepared to march—

“Huh? It’s that brat from the dream!”

Everyone turned.
There he was.
The masked small-bodied being from yesterday’s nightmare.

“So… it wasn’t a dream?”
“Not a spell?”
“We just need to confirm!”

The frontmost warrior charged again with a drawn sword.

BAM—!

Just like yesterday, he was embedded in the ground, trembling.

Jeok Wigang, the masked demon, smirked.

“What? Didn’t we see this exact scene yesterday? No?”

They heard it.

Yesterday.

“Looks like none of you remember well. I’ll carve it back into your memories.”

Wigang moved, and the disciples panicked, drawing swords.

The result was the same.

Thud-thud-thud—!

The disciples fell like straw bundles again.

Soon only two remained—
Wigang and the Sect Leader.

Wigang grinned.

“Remember what I said yesterday? Today, don’t get excited. Focus. Okay?”

The fury from yesterday returned.
Gritting his teeth, the Sect Leader charged, swearing to stab that damned mouth.

*****

Jin Gwang-hon jolted awake.

His bed.
Again.

Confusion swirled.

A dream within a dream?
Or was this still a dream?
Or an endless nightmare he could never wake from?

It felt like everything kept repeating.

He stepped outside weakly—
finding the disciples even more shaken than before.

“Sect Leader!”

Their trembling eyes fixed on him.

“You too?”
“Yes!”

The disciples instantly understood what he meant.

“Me as well…”

All of them scanned the surroundings nervously.
Because if this wasn’t a dream—
that masked demon would appear again.

“Looks like he’s not coming today.”
“Did we all hallucinate from excessive training?”

Highly unlikely.

“Let’s rest today.”

It was the first time ever.
Jin Gwang-hon—who always shouted “TRAIN” or “FIGHT”—
said they would rest.

No one objected.
They also wanted rest.

The disciples began to disperse—

“What? No march today?”

Every head snapped toward the voice.