Noh Ik-bong was the head of one of the Imperial Palace’s three hidden units and an inspector.
He was someone who didn’t get shaken easily. Although he was injured, his dantian didn’t get destroyed.
‘… that man is such a monster.’
It was a shock that he was hiding his martial arts. However, the deep and profound energy that he had was so difficult for him to comprehend.
‘If he is at that level, he can be a commander.’
The Imperial Palace had five groups under it.
The commanders were heads of the five groups and were not inferior to the prominent clans in murim. There were only two people above them.
One was the commander-in-chief, and now Noh Ik-bong felt the same intimidating aura from Oh Muyang.
‘Damn it.’
Because of this, he was too terrified to say anything.
The Imperial Palace had given three orders to his hidden group. The first was to understand the academy’s level and shake the institution through the investigation.
That was the main reason for them coming here.
The second order was to obstruct any investigation being done by Yu Jin-sung, who was a graduate here. This sabotage would establish that the Imperial Palace should not hire people who graduated from the academy.
And the third…
[I heard that the one who looks after the library’s basement had died in this incident. That is a good thing. Search for anything you can find in it under the pretext of investigation.]
[Martial arts?]
[Rumor has it that there is something there about the Heavenly Martial Arts Classics. It is known to contain the true essence of martial arts. Check if that is true.]
[…true?]
[If it is the essence of martial arts in the world, it is a suitable item for the Imperial Palace. Be sure to bring it back.]
Noh Ik-bong could not overcome the pressure he felt from Oh Muyang and could not move.
Strictly speaking, this was a felony for failing to do the task he was assigned, so he was confused about what to do.
But the fortunate thing was,
[Hmm. Right. Okay. You have been given quite a challenging task. Okay.]
After finding out the mission he was given, Oh Muyang just left the room as if he was done talking.
This was something he could not understand. He was terrified that the man would reveal why he had come.
And he could be killed too.
‘What could his purpose be?’
That was something he was curious about.
Flinch!
Noh Ik-bong felt something strange and touched his cheek.
It was the place where Mumu slapped him, a bruise that had begun to swell out.
But…
Bulge!
‘Uh?’
Something felt strange.
He touched his cheek as if it was a foreign body, but then he felt his blood vessels twitch.
He wasn’t conscious of it until a moment ago, but he couldn’t control the sensation anymore as something felt as if it was constantly twitching.
‘Why so suddenly…?!’
At that moment, Noh Ik-bong recalled what Oh Muyang said before leaving.
[Your cheek looks like a mess.]
After that, he touched his cheek several times.
After being hit by Mumu, the pain was so severe that he couldn’t even feel anything and the infirmary head gave him something to ease the pain.
[Well, take a good rest.]
And Oh Muyang left the room saying that.
Recalling that, Noh Ik-bong felt scared. Oh Muyang didn’t refer to the wound, and his words telling to rest probably meant… forever…
“D-damn it…Kuak.”
Papapapak!
“Kuak!”
Noh Ik-bong collapsed onto the bed as the veins on his cheek and forehead burst. When the guard stationed at the door entered the room, they didn’t seem too shocked at the gruesome sight.
Instead, after confirming his death, one of them smiled strangely and ran out of the room.
Kwaaang!
“Kuak!”
Kang Mui’s body, which had been hit by Mumu’s palm, dug into the floor as if it was hammered in. It had seemed like a light hit, but it was so powerful that he was shaken.
Kang Mui knew this.
‘You?’
This man had strength that surpassed the martial arts he had learned.
After experiencing this, he realized why Master Heo was not an opponent for Mumu. Complicated feelings ran through Kang Mui.
‘I can try other things, but…’
He wasn’t sure.
Instead, using his hidden techniques in this situation might have the opposite effect. He wasn’t sure he could even deal with this monster if he used them, and his plans could go awry.
‘Should I just bear it?’
As he contemplated what to do, Mumu grabbed him by the head and pulled him out of the floor. Kang Mui took the chance to launch a jab at Mumu.
Of course, it was backed with powerful energy.
Puck!
Instead of breaking Mumu’s neck, it only resulted in a hurt foot for Kang Mui.
How the hell did he have a body which was so powerful that nothing seemed to work on him?
He couldn’t understand it. Mumu said to him in a dry voice.
“You are stronger than I thought.”
Mumu had decided to hit Kang Mui to break his bones but not to kill him. Seeing that he could still launch a counterattack, however, it seemed like Kang Mui wasn’t as hurt as Mumu wanted.
Mumu’s guess was correct.
“For defense, I use energy all around my body.”
Kang Mui had made sure to defend his body just in case he became stuck. If it wasn’t for that, his head would have shattered.
“To look down…”
Before he could finish his words, Mumu slapped him in the stomach with his palm.
“Kuak!”
As a result, Kang Mui’s body bounced back, and he fell down in great pain.
Kwakwakwang!
“Cough…”
Kang Mui, who had fallen to one knee, coughed out blood.
Even though he protected his abdomen the same way, the destructive force of the hit was too much and inflicted internal injuries.
This was unimaginable.
Step.
“Let’s increase the intensity little by little.”
Swish!
Mumu, who was approaching with steam coming out of his body, looked like a War God. The oppressive feeling Kang Mui felt was overbearing.
‘What the… hell is this guy?’
His entire existence made no sense. He defied the laws of martial arts.
Sa Muheo said that it might be the power of Mumu’s items, but Kang Mui had other thoughts.
He didn’t know the specifics of those items, but there was no way they could bring about such power. That was because there was a price for every item.
And such a tremendous item would have a massive impact on the body.
Hadn’t he also paid the price to use ‘it’?
‘… something is there.’
Kang Mui thought there was something about Mumu.
This strength was inexplicable and could not be explained by just muscle training. Then Mumu said to Kang Mui.
“How long do I have to hit you before you open your mouth?”
At that, Kang Mui snorted and said,
“Hahaha… you won’t get to know anything.”
“You will speak.”
As soon as he said that, Mumu reached out again. Kang Mui barely managed to avoid Mumu’s hand by swiftly moving to his side and then swung his hand to Mumu’s chest.
‘First Strong Punch, Spiral Destruction Palm.’
Paaang!
The energy on Kang Mui’s attack whirled around sharply and dug into Mumu’s chest, causing him to get pushed back slightly.
Kang Mui wasn’t too surprised by the result.
‘It should have been powerful enough to destroy even a rock the size of a mansion.’
But Mumu was just pushed back a tiny bit.
“… did your body really turn into the Unbreakable Diamond State?”
Mumu tilted his head at the question and said,
“Even if I don’t know what it is, anyone can reach this if they train their muscles enough.”
Bulge.
Mumu placed a bit of strength on his chest muscles, which moved.
“…”
Was he messing around now?
If one trained their muscles, they’d turn out like this?
At that moment, something caught Kang Mui’s eyes. It was the most absurd thing.
‘!?’
It was the jade plaque hanging around his neck. The unusual pattern with two lines on a triangle.
Kang Mui’s eyes betrayed his shock as he said.
“You!”
“Are you ready to talk now?”
“How do you have it?”
“It?”
At those words, Mumu looked at where Kang Mui’s eyes were drawn.
His jade plaque.
Mumu asked.
“Do you know anything about this jade plaque?”
“…?”
Kang Mui frowned at the question.
That was what he wanted to ask. He knew all the faces of the people with the jade plaque, but this was his first time seeing this face.
Mumu’s eyes shone at this. It was the first time he had met someone who knew about this.
“Do you know what this is?”
At Mumu’s question, Kang Mui frowned
‘Does he not know who I am?’
Without any information, Mumu had the jade plaque and shouldn’t be asking such a question, but this was also suspicious.
How could a guy he had never seen before have that jade plaque?
“Do you not know me?”
“I don’t know. Do we know each other? If there is something, can you tell me what it is?”
Kang Mui was sure that Mumu knew nothing about the jade plaque.
Considering that he had such a strong power, he couldn’t have gotten the jade by chance.
‘Another one.’
A new owner of the jade plaque appeared. Mumu then clenched his fists.
“In case you do not know what this is, and you said it to get out of the situation…”
Shhh.
Before Mumu could even finish his words, Kang Mui pulled something out.
It was the same jade plaque with the same pattern. Mumu saw this and became shocked.
“Sa…me?”
At Mumu’s reaction, Kang Mui smiled.
Until recently, he had thought that this guy was just an annoyance.
But where else can you find this kind of luck where another jade plaque holder appeared without knowing what it was?
Tatatata!
‘Good.’
At the same time, a crowd was coming here due to their fight. His original purpose had been to get into the library, but Mumu’s appearance had made it difficult.
But if he, too, had the same jade plaque, the situation was different. Kang Mui then told Mumu.
“Now that you’ve seen it, you must know we aren’t strangers, right?”
“Not strangers?”
“I want to talk, but if we keep fighting here, we won’t be able to do anything.”
“Why?”
“Are you asking because you don’t know? Thanks to you, both of us are in danger.”
“Danger?”
“Well, I don’t even know what you thought, so I don’t know what happened, but I am glad about one thing. I got to see the plaque.”
At these words, Mumu was convinced that Kang Mui knew something about him.
There had to be someone who knew the secret of his birth and what he was looking for.
Kang Mui held his hand to Mumu and said,
“Do you want to know the secret of the jade plaque? Take my hand, and I’ll tell you.”
“Take your hand?”
“As you may have noticed, the people of the academy will arrive soon. We might have to indulge in violence, and if you want a way out, we must move.”
He thought Mumu would understand if he said it like that. Once they get out of this situation, he can try to make Mumu his own.
With the jade plaque, he would listen to Kang Mui to know its use.
“We don’t have time.”
Kang Mui held his hand out, his expression clearly asking Mumu to decide quickly. After a moment’s hesitation, Mumu approached him and took his hand.
Kang Mui said.
“A good choice. First of all, if we leave the place, the jade…”
Clench!
“Kuaaak!”
Before his words could even finish, Kang Mui’s body twisted in pain. Mumu looked at him and scratched his head.
“I was curious about it, but you kept dragging things out, thinking I wouldn’t notice.”