Chapter 9 – Insane

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read more at Nineheavens.org

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Chapter 9 – Insane

Before long, the moon that had witnessed everything throughout the night had vanished.

Thus day broke.

Under the blue sky with clusters of puffy clouds.

The disciples of White Peak Sword Sect finished their breakfast and gathered at the training grounds connected to the southern main gate.

It was a spacious area that could comfortably fit over a thousand people, but there were only about a hundred gathered here.

A scene that plainly showed the sect's declined power.

When White Peak Sword Sect was enjoying its heyday in the past, the total membership exceeded a thousand.

But now, it was barely a tenth of that at best.

Since the training grounds themselves were so vast, there was no helping that this number looked even more meager.

Step, step, step, step…

Chief Supervisor Hyeop Mu-geuk and the three Guyang brothers who served as Head Instructors appeared with disciplined steps and ascended the platform.

As the disciples, having arranged their columns and rows, focused on the front, a representative from the front row shouted loudly.

"Training participation personnel report! Total of one hundred ten! Present, one hundred ten! Absent, none! Training preparation complete!"

At that, Hyeop Mu-geuk addressed everyone with his hands clasped behind his back.

"The Young Sect Master will likely return within today. So I hope everyone thinks of this as the last day and does their best to endure. The Young Sect Master did say there would definitely be appropriate rewards."

"Yes!"

The disciples answered thunderously in unison.

Each of their faces already showed signs of exhaustion before training had even started.

There was only one reason.

The new body tempering method they had practiced for the past nine days was so grueling that everyone had accumulated fatigue.

Their muscles throughout their bodies were so knotted that even a slight touch would make them groan.

The training consisted of a total of fourteen postures, each with different difficulty levels, so if they didn't keep stamina distribution in mind, they would struggle from the middle to latter parts.

Most of the disciples had failed at regulating intensity and pacing, which was why their bodies were this heavy.

It was actually inevitable since this was a completely unfamiliar body tempering method they had never experienced before.

Still, it was fortunate, if anything, that they had gained some knack for it compared to the first day.

Hyeop Mu-geuk raised his left hand high and commanded.

"Afternoon group, surveillance formation!"

Immediately after, half of the disciples separated with orderly movements.

Fifty-five people standing in a large square formation with proper spacing.

The rest were in a shape as if trapped in the middle.

"Join."

When Hyeop Mu-geuk gave the command again, two of the three Head Instructors on the platform went and stood within the spear-like formation resembling an encirclement.

The reason the personnel was divided in half was because the new body tempering method was conducted in morning and afternoon groups.

After lunchtime, the roles of the training group and surveillance group would switch again.

Guyang Cheon, standing on the platform, took a whistle from his breast pocket and put it in his mouth.

Peeeeet-!

Simultaneously, the fifty-some members of the morning group spread out at arm's length from each other and took a deep breath.

Hyeop Mu-geuk looked at everyone and instructed.

"Position one, jumping high, prepare!"

At that, the fifty-some disciples assumed the familiar posture.

Both arms stretched straight back behind the waist, both legs bent as if sitting on a chair.

It was the basic jumping high motion.

When the first command sounded, they would lightly jump in place while raising both arms parallel to the front, and when the second command sounded, they would lightly jump again and return to the initial posture, and when the third command sounded, they would jump harder than before while stretching both arms straight above their heads, and when the fourth command sounded, they would assume the initial posture like the third command.

That was jumping high.

The most important part here was the count according to the number of repetitions – if it was ten times, they must absolutely not call out that number at the very end.

Hyeop Mu-geuk placed his hands on his hips with a snap and said solemnly.

"Open your ears and listen well. To warm up, we'll do twenty repetitions. How many?"

"Twenty repetitions!"

"How many?"

"Twenty repetitions!"

"Good, then begin with ten repetitions."

The moment Hyeop Mu-geuk's words ended, Guyang Cheon beside him blew the whistle.

Pip- pi-pip- pip-!

The disciples performing jumping high in rhythm with the sound shouted the pre-agreed count in unison.

"One!"

Pip- pip-pip- pip-!

"Two!"

When they reached the tenth repetition.

Several disciples made a mistake.

"Ten!"

They called out the last number.

It was because they hadn't paid close attention when the count was momentarily switched cunningly earlier.

In that instant, Hyeop Mu-geuk's expression turned cold.

"You weren't listening properly."

The disciples who had called out 'ten' turned pale under the piercing gazes of the rest.

'We're screwed!'

Regretting it was too late.

Hyeop Mu-geuk raised his chin and threw out a meaningful remark.

"There's nothing like position eight, whole-body twist, to snap out of it."

Those individuals were each terrified.

'Gasp!'

They knew well from experience.

That among all the positions, the eighth was the most painful.

Whole-body twist.

The name itself was absolutely terrifying.

"Everyone, prepare!"

The disciples all became tearful without exception.

Damn, we're going to break our bodies from the very start!

"Whole-body twist, begin twenty repetitions!"

Along with Hyeop Mu-geuk's short command, the terrifying sound of the whistle began to ring out sharply.

Pip- pi-pip- pip-!

* * *

Around the hour of horse (11 AM – 1 PM).

Thousand Snake Gang leader Gul Ma-hun, sitting on a broad rock in the forest, moved one eyebrow and asked.

"What? Physical training?"

At that, one of the gang members standing in front of him nodded.

"Yes, Gang Leader. That's exactly what it looked like."

The one who answered cautiously was the leader of the reconnaissance squad who had left here at early morning to spy on the internal activities of White Peak Sword Sect.

Then a squad member beside him quietly added.

"Um… They particularly performed something called whole-body twist frequently."

"Whole-body twist?"

When Gul Ma-hun tilted his head, the squad member immediately lay flat on the ground.

Stop.

Lying on his back with both arms spread wide and both legs raised vertically pressed together, he raised his head slightly.

Then he tilted the pair of legs extended upward to the left as far as they would go toward the floor while turning his head the opposite way, then returned the legs to the original position and tilted them to the right as far as possible while turning his head the opposite way.

"Ugh… As… you can see, it's a very strenuous movement."

When the squad member demonstrated and stood up, another squad member stepped forward eagerly.

"There was also something called squat jumps that looked really difficult."

He fully bent his knees into a squat, interlaced his fingers behind his head, and crossed his legs alternately each time he jumped as if standing up.

Gul Ma-hun soon waved his hand and said.

"Enough. So… they're repeating such things countless times?"

"Yes. How should I put it – rather than body tempering, it seemed like a kind of torture. Continuously performing the whole-body twist and squat jumps one after another was so painful that even I, watching while spying, felt agonized."

At the reconnaissance squad leader's words, Vice Gang Leader Geum Ja-jeom frowned.

"Heh, even Shaolin Temple, which is renowned for its grueling physical training, probably doesn't go that far…"

Gul Ma-hun soon rose to his feet and picked up his beloved sword.

"How amusing the sight of a fallen martial school at play. This works out well for us."

At that, Geum Ja-jeom quickly grasped his intention.

"Do you intend to move up the time?"

The smile on Gul Ma-hun's lips deepened.

"Heh. Half of their personnel will be exhausted from that ridiculous physical training, so we can handle them even more easily. We'll execute the operation at the end of hour of horse (around noon). Besides, isn't the weather perfect for destroying evidence?"

As he said this, he pointed his index finger upward.

The weather had changed.

The sky that had been clear just moments ago was already covered in dark clouds, casting a dim shadow.

It was clear that rain would soon pour down heavily.

Geum Ja-jeom grinned and said quietly.

"Those dark clouds seem to foreshadow White Peak Sword Sect's fate."

"Now the sound of rain will hide our presence, and the rainwater will thoroughly soak their bodies and exhaust them further."

There was no need to wait until night.

They just needed to go, completely annihilate White Peak Sword Sect, and quietly disappear.

They wouldn't touch anything – just create a bloodbath.

Then everything related to the killer's identity would lead to all sorts of speculation and become shrouded in mystery.

Just like what happened to White Gate Sword Gentleman Sagong Woon…

"Let's go."

At Gul Ma-hun's command, the entire Thousand Snake Gang including Geum Ja-jeom hurried to prepare and moved forward.

To put an end to the history of White Peak Sword Sect, which was barely maintaining its existence.

* * *

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud- Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-!

As the sound of horse hooves rang out noisily.

Tae Sa-ja, the leader of the bandit gang riding in the cart, gripped the railing tightly while cursing internally.

'Damn! My ass is killing me!'

The cart kept jolting violently, and his tailbone was throbbing.

'Gah, the damn horse must be overflowing with energy after eating that Hundred-Year Snow Ginseng! It even feels like it's getting faster! Ugh… Motion sickness…'

Meanwhile, his subordinate bandit gang showed no signs of regaining consciousness, perhaps because they had been subjected to intense energy acupoint sealing from the start.

'Wait… Could he be planning to hand us all over to the authorities?'

Concerned, Tae Sa-ja looked at Cheol Ryu-heun's back as he held the reins and asked cautiously.

"Woo-Um, may I ask the great hero a question? What is your esteemed name? And where is your sect?"

No response.

Cheol Ryu-heun's unresponsive gaze remained fixed forward.

Tae Sa-ja, growing even more anxious, asked again.

"I-If you could at least tell me our destination…"

At that, Cheol Ryu-heun answered brusquely without even turning his head.

"Shut up. I'm circulating my energy, so don't disturb me."

Hearing that, Tae Sa-ja was dumbfounded.

'What is this crazy bastard saying!'

Not sitting cross-legged in meditation, but circulating energy while on horseback?

Insane talk.

Seeing him spout such things so casually, nine out of ten he wasn't a normal person.

'Well, I suppose…'

From the moment he asked bandits if they had money and fed a rare elixir to a horse, he should have realized he was dealing with a madman.

Just then, Cheol Ryu-heun exhaled a long breath as if finishing his energy circulation – 'Phew.'

Then he turned his head slightly back and gestured.

"Hand me the bundle on the right."

Tae Sa-ja quickly tossed the bundle placed to his right.

After rummaging through it, Cheol Ryu-heun soon scratched the back of his head.

"Ah, I see… I was wondering why the horse's running speed kept increasing – I meant to feed it Hundred-Year Snow Ginseng but accidentally fed it Thousand-Year Immortal Ginseng."

Simultaneously, Tae Sa-ja was shocked beyond belief.

'Gasp! What?'

Something even harder to obtain than Hundred-Year Snow Ginseng was the Thousand-Year Immortal Ginseng, known as the King of Ginsengs.

It was not for nothing that it was called 'a gift bestowed by immortals.'

'The person is insane, and the horse is insane! At this rate, I'm going to go insane too!'

But Cheol Ryu-heun, regardless of whether the other was surprised or not, tossed the bundle back to the cart behind him and glanced at the sky.

"Looking at it, it'll pour down refreshingly soon. Beating someone up until they're dusty while it's raining is quite fun too."

At that moment, the galloping horse became enveloped in a mysterious mist, and the muscles throughout its body visibly swelled.

Bulging.

Even thick sinews protruded wildly.

Its gallop became two or three times faster.

Thud-thud-thud-thud-boom, thud-thud-thud-thud-boom-!

Every time the horse's hooves struck the ground, heavy sounds reverberated along with circular cracks.

The momentum of cutting through the wind as it ran was reminiscent of high-level lightness technique.

Cheol Ryu-heun smiled faintly with satisfaction.

"Has the medicinal effect finally fully manifested?"

Meanwhile, Tae Sa-ja in the back couldn't even open his eyes properly against the fearsome wind pressure as he continuously screamed.

"Aaargh, aaaaaargh! Take it easy! You crazy things!"