“If I write it, people’ll pay attention. If you write it, it’ll just look like I got in on the back of some connection.”
“Tsk. Understood.”
“Wigang. The kids over there are weak, so you have to handle them gently. Okay? If your fist so much as brushes them wrong, they’ll die.”
“I know.”
“And even if the kids there pick a fight with you, don’t kill them. Got it?”
“Yes. I’ll just straighten them out a little.”
If I’m only going to straighten them out, why does he look so worried?
“Good. Do that. Still—anyone who gets careless with you, don’t let it go. Don’t endure it. Got it? Anyone who disrespects my boy—beat them, just not to the point they die.”
“Yes, Grandfather.”
*****
The next day.
Near Heavenly Martial Castle.
A gigantic canyon ringed on all sides by sheer cliffs—Heavenly Martial Gorge.
All over the cliff faces were protrusions you could grip and climb all the way to the top, and countless caves that looked like entrances to training grounds were hidden here and there.
On the canyon floor, a massive complex stood as if it had been built to fit the space perfectly, radiating imposing force. On a huge signboard, Martial Star Hall was carved in vigorous cursive script.
With the recommendation letter from Geum Hwangryeok, I arrived at Martial Star Hall.
I told Taecheon and Chu Sowon that they couldn’t stay with me for a while, so they should help Yeomhwa with his training while training themselves as well.
At the center of this enormous canyon, a hexagonal drill yard had been built. Here, if you challenged a higher rank, fought, and won, you could be promoted.
You could challenge or refuse three times each, but if you failed all three times or refused all three times, you were expelled from Martial Star Hall.
And if you wanted to become stronger, you could enter the Abyssal Star Refining Purgatory that existed inside Martial Star Hall and temper both body and mind.
In there, they strengthened the body through various methods—extreme heat, extreme cold, pressure, poison, yin arts, and more. They called it training, but in truth it was no different from torture.
There was also a space to strengthen mental fortitude.
They held to the principle that if your mind was weak, you weren’t a proper martial artist, and it was a place that showed trainees what they feared most as an illusion and forced them to overcome it.
Even in an environment this brutally vicious, trainees who wanted to grow stronger stepped in there of their own accord.
Because trainees who came out of the Abyssal Star Refining Purgatory returned absurdly strong, others clenched their teeth and went in just so they wouldn’t lose to them.
In Martial Star Hall, ranks were divided into a total of seven stages, called the Seven-Star Ascension Method.
There were stages from Rank Seven to Rank One, and the lower the number, the stronger you were.
From Rank Five, you were recognized as an official warrior of Heavenly Martial Castle, and the higher your rank rose, the higher your status within Heavenly Martial Castle became as well.
If you reached Rank One, you could challenge for the successor position, and if you succeeded, you were granted the qualification to become the next Lord of the Castle.
The ultimate goal of many people who entered Martial Star Hall was Rank One.
Entering Rank One and becoming a successor candidate of Heavenly Martial Castle.
But stepping into Rank One was harder than plucking a star from the sky.
Only the truly chosen could reach it—and right now, there was no one in Rank One.
Because of the difficulty, most people usually couldn’t get past Rank Three. They left Martial Star Hall and settled into positions within Heavenly Martial Castle.
There were two ways to be promoted: defeat a rising talent of a higher rank than you, or challenge the Seven-Star Ascension Tower.
If a higher-rank trainee was challenged by a lower-rank trainee, he had to accept. He could refuse, but only up to three times.
If he refused three times, he was expelled.
Challenges in the drill yard were only possible from Rank Seven through Rank Four.
From Rank Three onward, to be promoted you had to challenge the Seven-Star Ascension Tower or earn recognition from Heavenly Martial Castle—most often by fighting and defeating a warrior designated by Heavenly Martial Castle to prove it.
If fighting in the drill yard was bothersome, you could challenge the Seven-Star Ascension Tower.
The Seven-Star Ascension Tower was a place where, if your ability was sufficient, you could climb in one go regardless of ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) rank.
But until now, not a single trainee had reached Rank One through the Seven-Star Ascension Tower.
Most gave up without even getting past Rank Three, and before long, there were almost no trainees who used the Seven-Star Ascension Tower to be promoted.
It was at the level where only the lower ranks challenged it to climb upward—and even that, they complained was too hard and never challenged again.
The Seven-Star Ascension Tower had a special formation installed on every floor, and the moment you entered a floor, a test suited to that rank unfolded as an illusion.
If you passed the test, a pattern was engraved onto your body, and with that you could tell that person’s current rank.
If you belonged to Martial Star Hall, anyone could challenge the Seven-Star Ascension Tower anytime, regardless of when they were admitted.
If you succeeded the moment you were admitted, you would move from Rank Seven to Rank Six at the same time you entered.
Martial Star Hall was a place that gave rising talents the chance to awaken their abilities.
People thought this was a place that raised rising talents, but that wasn’t the reality.
Those who already possessed enough talent displayed their ability, and Heavenly Martial Castle selected the talented among them and took them in. It was mutual benefit.
Therefore, there wasn’t any set time for admission.
As long as you served Heavenly Martial Castle or belonged to a force connected to Heavenly Martial Castle, anyone could apply—and if you passed the admission test, you could enter Martial Star Hall.
Whether you were strong or weak, admission always started you at Rank Seven.
Once admitted, you could decide whether you would train alone, choose a master and train under him, or immediately challenge the Seven-Star Ascension Tower to be promoted.
Everything was voluntary.
You could be admitted and do nothing—just live there.
But if, for one year, you made no effort whatsoever toward promotion, you were permanently expelled, and you could never set foot in Heavenly Martial Castle again.
When you entered Martial Star Hall, your living area was divided by rank, and treatment differed depending on what rank you were.
Rank Seven lived in a poor group dormitory, and the quality of the food was also wretched.
Usually it was thin noodles or rice with a single vegetable side dish—nothing more.
The higher you went, the number of dishes increased and the quality rose.
Once you became Rank Five, you were given a private room, and as your rank rose, you were assigned a better hall.
It was a method of drawing out the motivation of trainees in the lower ranks through thorough discrimination.
I held out the recommendation letter to the people in charge of Martial Star Hall admissions.
“Hmm. Master Smith Cheon recommended you personally?”
The examiners looked me over with eyes that said they hadn’t expected this.
“No matter if Master Smith Cheon recommended you, you can’t enter immediately. You must still go through the basic tests.”
“Yes. I will.”
“Good. Follow me.”
An examiner carrying documents walked forward in front of me.
There, a boulder that looked solid at a glance sat waiting.
“First is an internal energy test. That rock reacts only to internal energy and breaks. Try to put a scratch in it. The more scratches, the better.”
I went to the boulder and dug into it with my finger like I was carving sand.
SCRRRK—.
The examiner jolted.
“Hoh. Your internal energy is considerable. You pass internal energy.”
I didn’t use a shred of internal energy.
No, since I don’t have it in the first place, I can’t use it.
There was no way the examiner would imagine I’d carved that rock with pure physical strength.
When we moved to the second place, devices were set up everywhere—things that looked like they would beat you if you slipped even a little.
“Second, we’ll test your lightness skill. You just have to pass through there.”
The floor was made of logs that would start spinning the moment you put even a little force on them, and above were logs everywhere, poised to fly at me at any moment.
When the examiner shouted to begin while checking the papers, I calmly crossed.
I avoided the logs flying in from all directions with absurd ease, walking as if I were on flat ground.
“Hooh! Your lightness skill is truly incredible. You pass.”
It wasn’t lightness skill.
I just walked.
The logs flew so slowly it was enough to make me yawn.
The third room was a room to test mental fortitude.
You had to maintain a sound mind and come out of a room filled with killing intent.
But this, too, posed not even the slightest threat to me.
I passed far too easily.
The examiner’s face filled with shock.
“Hoh! It’s been a long time since someone this talented came in.”
His expression was excited.
“That’s enough. You pass.”
It was so anticlimactic I wondered if this even counted as a test.
I didn’t know.
I didn’t know how infamous these tests I’d just seen were.
I didn’t know why the examiner was making such a fuss.
When he stamped the documents, a large red seal marked PASS stood out clearly.
“Take this and go inside. You’ll be able to hear the detailed explanation once you’re in.”
“Thank you.”
*****
“Master Smith Cheon’s recommendation?”
Inside Martial Star Hall, when I held out the pass documents I’d received from the examiner to the person in charge, he stared at me like he couldn’t believe it.
After a long while, he scribbled something furiously and shoved it back toward me.
The handler’s gaze was sharp.
“Out there, your spoiled games might work. Here, they don’t. Put your blood on it and sign.”
A single sheet of paper placed before me.
It was Martial Star Hall’s oath document.
[As one who bears a sword beneath the heavens, I will follow the will of Heavenly Martial Castle,
and from the moment I enter Martial Star Hall, I swear to offer even my life.]
An oath that began with wording like that.
Below it were the clauses—four in total.
First was a life-and-death pledge.
A vow that it was fine to die during training or during a match.
Second was about martial arts.
A clause swearing that the martial arts learned here would be used only for the honor and purpose of Heavenly Martial Castle.
Third was a clause swearing not to disclose any information whatsoever related to Martial Star Hall.
And the fourth was a clause swearing that, aside from the martial arts learned here, everything else would also be used only for Heavenly Martial Castle.
[Having read the above oath and understood its meaning, I certify that I have entered of my own will, and I sign with my blood and hand.]
Below that was the space to sign.
My body can’t be wounded by anything.
The only existence that can wound my body is me.
I bit my finger. Blood came out, and with it I signed the oath.
The wound on my finger closed immediately.
No one saw it.
When the signing was finished, the handler flipped through the papers.
Then he spoke.
“A spot opened up in Rank Seven, Third Squad. Follow that man.”
When I turned my gaze, a man with one eye said in a blunt voice.
“Follow.”
When I disappeared after the guide, the handlers gathered and started murmuring.
“He looks like some bookish scholar.”
“Who would look at him and think he’d do blacksmith work? He probably just got in because someone Master Smith Cheon knows asked a favor.”
“Really? Would Master Smith Cheon write a recommendation letter just because someone’s an acquaintance?”
“This isn’t about iron. He’s not asking to be put in a forge, so he probably wrote it.”
“Whatever. We’ll find out whether he’s the real thing or not if we watch.”
“Haa. Lately, every single one who comes in is someone who got in through connections.”
“Stop it. They were all sent by people above us—what power do we have?”
“Jeez. These days, this isn’t the Martial Star Hall it used to be. Back then it had more grit, more life.”
“How did Heavenly Martial Castle end up like this?”