Chapter 71

At that moment, one Ascension Officer started laughing.

“Kekeke!”

“What—did the pain scramble your brain?”

“No. It’s just... I finally feel it. That I’m a martial artist. This is what a martial artist is. Right?”

At that, the other Ascension Officers let out small snorts—then burst into loud laughter.

“Yeah. You’re right.”

“I don’t even remember how long it’s been since I fought a battle like this—where it’s life or death.”

“As expected of someone the Lord of the Castle chose. Strong, and he even woke us up.”

“If training starts at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow, we should hurry back and sleep. We’ve gotta recover as much as we can if we want to endure tomorrow too.”

“Right. Let’s go.”

They all forced themselves up through the pain and started heading to their dorm.

On the way, they saw the Seven-Star Ascension Tower—and everyone stopped.

“Th-that... what is that?”

“Th-the tower... it’s completely brand new.”

“Did workers come through?”

“What are you talking about? If anyone passed through, they’d have to cross our training ground.”

“Not even an ant walked by.”

“Then how the hell do you explain that?”

They stood there with their mouths open, staring at the Seven-Star Ascension Tower—changed so completely it looked new.

“Don’t tell me... he did it alone?”

“No way. Even if formations are one thing, changing the tower itself like that—there’s no way one person could do it.”

“And doing the formations alone was impossible in the first place. Even the Strategist mobilized dozens of people just to change the tower’s formations. And it still took a month.”

It felt like they’d been possessed by a ghost.

“The fog is gone too.”

“Yeah. With the fog gone... it feels like my insides finally cleared out.”

“What are we going to figure out just by staring? He handled it all himself. Let’s get inside and rest. I’m dying.”

“Yeah. Let’s go rest.”

The next day.

The Ascension Officers opened their eyes and stared at «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» their bodies with amazed expressions.

“What? The pain’s faded a lot overnight.”

“This level of pain isn’t even pain compared to yesterday.”

“Hey, hey. It only doesn’t hurt compared to yesterday.”

“We’ll be late for training. Let’s go.”

“Yeah!”

Faces flushed with excitement, they hurriedly changed clothes and ran out to the training ground.

Unlike before—when they’d had no motivation—everyone was overflowing with vitality.

Seeing them like that, I let out a small chuckle.

“Up to yesterday you all looked like walking corpses, but today you’re brimming with life?”

“All of us are.... But—uh—what should we call you?”

“Just call me ‘Young Master.’”

“Understood. This is all thanks to you, Young Master.”

“How is it thanks to me? It’s thanks to the Lord of the Castle.”

At my words, their smiles deepened.

Maybe it was a kind of shared feeling—loyalty toward the Heavenly Martial Emperor.

“Alright, then. Shall we start today’s training?”

“Yes!”

“Put on the armor over there.”

Armor?

When they looked down, there really was armor there.

Why hadn’t they noticed it earlier?

They did as I told them and started putting it on—

“KGHK!”

It was heavy.

Ah. Morning training must be physical conditioning.

Thinking that, they grit their teeth and forced the armor on.

CLICK— CLICK—.

Once it was fully on, shackles-like restraints locked onto their arms and legs, making movement brutally difficult.

“Starting today, you live while wearing that.”

“...Pardon?”

“Not just during training?”

I shook my head.

“You wear it until I tell you you can take it off. Until I allow it, you’re not allowed to use internal energy either. If you use internal energy without permission, there will be intense pain.”

Meaning: move with pure physical strength, no internal energy.

“Alright. Shall we start morning training? Each of you, pick up your weapon.”

The Ascension Officers dragged themselves to where the weapons were.

They stood there holding them—then suddenly one of them started convulsing.

“Ughhhhhh—!”

Foam spilled from his mouth, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed unconscious.

“I told you. No internal energy.”

I walked up, touched the unconscious Ascension Officer’s body while he was still standing there, and murmured a spell.

He opened his eyes and spoke with a face full of terror.

“Wh-what... was that just now?”

“If you use internal energy, I set it so lightning energy wraps around your body.”

The most terrifying energy in the world is lightning energy.

Now he understood what that meant—because he’d felt it.

It was terrifying.

Like every muscle in his body was being wrung out.

He never wanted to experience it again.

“If the rest of you are curious, go ahead and try using internal energy.”

They all shook their heads.

“Alright. Attention.”

They gripped their weapons and looked at me.

Now he’ll tell us to swing and set our stance, right?

They readied themselves to swing—

“Come at me.”

“...Pardon?”

They stared at me like they didn’t understand.

“With those weapons. Attack me.”

“Not... just swinging them?”

“If you swing at empty air, what are you going to use it for?”

“To correct our stance—”

“Correct your stance? When an enemy throws an irregular attack, are you going to attack with that stance?”

They had nothing to say.

“The best training is live combat. Experience needs to stack up—so you can shut down variables. Right?”

“You’re right.”

“Then come at me.”

At my words, the Ascension Officers started moving.

“Ggh!”

Their bodies wouldn’t move the way they wanted.

They got frustrated—and without realizing it, their tempers flared.

Was my stamina always this pathetic? That kind of irritation rose too.

But that wasn’t the real problem.

I started moving.

WHAM—!

“KHUHK!”

I began smashing into them—Ascension Officers who couldn’t even move properly.

And they complained.

“Y-Young Master! This isn’t fair!”

I stopped and asked.

“What isn’t?”

“You aren’t wearing anything! That’s not fair!”

“I am wearing it.”

I pulled my clothes open, and armor showed underneath.

“Want to try it on?”

The moment I took it off and tossed it to the ground—

KUUUNG—.

The armor sank about halfway into the ground.

How heavy did it have to be for armor to bury itself like that?

One of them, curious, walked up and tried lifting it.

“Ggh!”

No matter how hard he strained, it didn’t budge.

“GAAAH!”

Then he accidentally used internal energy.

Lightning energy shocked him, and he collapsed unconscious.

I woke him again, lifted the armor, and put it back on.

Like I was slipping on fluttering cloth.

At that moment, they understood.

Jeok Wigang wasn’t someone they could measure by their standards.

Could he be a successor the Lord of the Castle has been hiding?

That kind of thought even surfaced.

Because then it made sense.

If the Lord of the Castle gave him the Heavenly Martial Token and entrusted him with a secret mission—wasn’t he a successor?

“What are you thinking about so hard? Alright. Let’s start again.”

“Ah....”

There was no excuse left.

They had to endure my attacks, no matter what.

They looked at each other, nodded, then charged me with determined faces.

“Fine! Let’s die, then!”

One week later.

Now the Ascension Officers could move naturally even while wearing the armor.

I smiled.

“Good work. I guess you can take the armor off now.”

As I said that, I stripped the armor off them.

The moment the heavy armor came off, liberation washed over them, and it felt like their bodies would fly.

“Alright. One last look.”

Smiling, I crooked a finger.

The Ascension Officers stepped forward in front of me with grim determination.

Then they amplified their internal energy in unison and charged.

“AAAAAAH!”

Watching them rush in with a roar, I moved with a satisfied smile.

WHOOOM— SHAAK—.

Razor-sharp attacks poured in around me without pause, and their power was nothing like before.

And they weren’t charging mindlessly like they used to.

They read the situation and moved accordingly.

They’d definitely changed.

Even so, there was one thing that hadn’t changed.

“AAAAH! Just get hit already! HIT!”

“Ggh!”

No matter how many times they attacked, they still couldn’t land a blow on me.

Even attacking at full strength, they still couldn’t touch me, and it drove them crazy.

“Huff— huff— huff!”

What level was I at?

How huge was the gap between us that the difference could be like this?

They hadn’t even seen me use a single technique.

My movements were just punches and kicks.

That was only possible with an overwhelming difference in realm.

Considering the Ascension Officers were Top-Peak level...

At minimum, I had to be Mystical-View level or higher.

Mystical-View at that young age.

Respect rose in them.

And they became certain.

Jeok Wigang was the next successor of Heavenly Martial Castle.

They looked at each other and smiled.

Because the future Lord of the Castle himself was training them—sparring with them.

This would be a story they could brag about until the day they died.

Their expressions turned solemn.

We can’t disappoint the future Lord of the Castle.

They planned to throw in everything they had and satisfy me.

Feeling their aura change, I smiled.

I could tell they were preparing a final attack.

Then I should repay that properly.

I clenched my fist and drove it forward at the Ascension Officers charging in.

KUPA-PA-PA-PAK—!

A powerful Fist Wind blasted them away in a single strike.

They tried to endure it, but it was useless.

He’d only thrown a punch—yet the power was like this.

They were sent flying by the Fist Wind and smashed into the ground, wondering how terrifying it would be if I actually unfolded real martial arts.

WHIIII—.

After the powerful Fist Wind passed, my satisfied voice reached them.

“Good work. Don’t get lazy—keep training, and keep advancing.”

The Ascension Officers who’d been sprawled on the ground staggered upright, performed a fist-and-palm salute, and bowed.

“Understood. Thank you.”

“Um, Young Master.”

“Yes?”

“Could you... give us that armor?”

“You want to train with it more?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll give you something heavier. That’s what will make it training.”

“Thank you.”

There was only one reason they wanted training armor.

The effect was undeniable.

Alright. That left one thing.

To normalize the Seven-Star Ascension Tower.

And to do that, I first needed to bring in a lot of challengers.

“Soon, a lot of people will come, so prepare to receive them.”

“Understood.”

Abyssal Star Refining Purgatory.

A place that tempers trainees to the extreme.

The effect was certain—

and that’s exactly why the place was infamous.

In the past, there were plenty of trainees who volunteered to enter, determined to become stronger even if it meant death.

But now, when rank-ups were possible anytime as long as you had money, there weren’t many who challenged it.

Even the ones who did challenge it couldn’t endure for long before leaving.

So Abyssal Star Refining Purgatory was always empty.

And yet, not one person—

five of them showed up.

They were Hwang Jinhyeok, Gam Taeseong, Hwang Gyeryun, Bang Cheonho, and Woo Seokin—sent by me.

The Training Master in charge stared at the trainees who’d arrived for the first time in a long while, clearly shocked.

“Huh. Not one—five? Did the sun rise in the west today?”

“Is it always this empty?”

“Back in the day it was packed. Kids these days don’t have any guts. They don’t want to do anything hard—that’s the problem.”

“We’re kids these days too.”

“You’re different. You going in?”