CH 43

“8?”

“Insane! Does that make any sense to you?”

“Even our master couldn’t do that!”

The entire room was in turmoil!

Dan Baek-yeon, a special master, taught them how to unseal their sealed blood points.

Even though she took around 10 seconds to unseal hers, Mumu had forced his blood points open in just 8 seconds and with no internal energy.

‘How?’

The person who was shocked the most was Hong Hye-ryung.

As highly ranked in the entrance exams, it seemed natural for her to occupy the best position.

But thanks to Mumu, it didn’t seem like that was true anymore.

‘… 8.’

She had 20 counts till she was free.

There was a gap between her and that guy which couldn’t even be compared.

‘I was pushed…’

It was quite a shock to her, who had been happy and confident of being the best.

On the other hand,

‘Puhaha.’

Mo Il-hwa, who hadn’t yet unsealed her blood points.

She was delighted to see Hong Hye-ryung utterly shocked.

She was worried that the woman couldn’t be caught if she was left to lord around.

‘Mumu you did well!’

Mumu thought it was nothing special

Meanwhile, Baek-yeon, who was surprised, seemed troubled.

The students were looking at her.

‘Did this hurt her self-esteem?’

‘It must have.’

‘She is a top talent in the academy, but then a guy who doesn’t even have internal energy does something like this.’

‘Yah. After all, the method for unsealing doesn’t seem to be too dependent on internal energy.’

‘Stil…’

Contrary to the students,

‘How did he do it? Is it generally possible to do it with just muscle strength and no energy? If possible, how did he learn it? Did he by chance perform a bone graft to push out the seal?’

She was thinking of other essential things, she didn’t care that this new kid managed to surpass her own record.

Her theory was that any method which was an improvement over the previous had to be seriously considered, methods needed to be improved with time!

Then Mumu spoke to her.

“Master, don’t I get extra points?”

“Ahh…”

Dan Baek-yeon looked at Mumu.

His eyes were full of anticipation and this puzzled her.

Since this guy did it faster than the master, she thought he would act arrogant.

But instead this kid seemed innocent and pure eyed.

‘Give me an extra point too.’

Focus just here.

It was quite different from the students she had seen before.

‘… so cute.’

Dan Baek-yeon, who was staring at Mumu, opened her mouth.

“It was interesting.”

“Will I get extra points too?”

“Yes. However, I gave Hong Hye-ryung a point for doing it faster, but you did it the fastest, so giving the same point wouldn’t be fair, so I’ll give you two points instead.”

As soon as her words were heard, the crowd soon created a commotion all around.

In an instant, Mumu and not Hong Hye-ryung had become first in the class.

Hong Hye-ryung bit her lip.

Getting only one extra point turned out to be nothing special….

But then a student raised their hand,

“Master, wasn’t what was just shown now different?”

“Different?”

“Yes. In the beginning we were only asked to practice removing the seals the way the master taught us… and that guy there, he didn’t do that but did something entirely different right?”

Some of them agreed with them.

What Mumu did was completely different from what was shown and giving that a score seemed too much.

To that, Baek-yeon said,

“I said that my method was groundbreaking and fast, but student Mumu here did it faster than me, someone who is known to be proficient in this. That too without internal energy…”

“T-that…”

“Then that would mean that the student Mumu’s method here is more efficient and innovative than mine. Which is why I gave him the extra points.”

Clear explanation.

“…”

“Any more problems?”

“No.”

The student who protested, sat down quietly.

The student still looked at Mumu with jealousy.

Dan Baek-yeon warned her students.

“We don’t have time for this. Students who cannot unseal it after 100 counts will be judged to have not taken the class properly and their grades will be lowered.”

As soon as she said that, people didn’t care about Mumu anymore.

And when the class went silent, Dan Baek-yeon fell into troubled thought.

The first class was done.

After class, the faces of the students seem satisfied.

Among the numerous academies throughout the place, none other than the Heavenly Martial Academy had such a high level of education.

And that was why people were so focused on getting into the academy.

Mo Il-hwa and Jin-hyuk were waiting outside the first classroom.

It was because Baek-yeon asked Mumu to stay behind.

“Why did she ask him to stay?”

In response to Mo Il-hwa’ question, Jin-hyuk only said that he didn’t know.

It was because of Mumu and Hong Hye-ryung.

As the two of them had scored extra points, strange jealousy had shot up in him.

‘I took it too easy.’

2 to 3 years.

He thought he had enough time.

And didn’t he make it into the top 12?

However, with such a relaxed attitude wouldn't he be pushed further down the board?

‘I need to work harder.’

After this, he vowed to work harder on his training and even cut into his sleeping time.

Seeing Jin-hyuk, Mo Il-hwa thought,

‘He’s so serious.’

After being with him for a couple of days, she understood what his personality was like.

Every time she saw Jin-hyuk she would wonder if his older brother was the same.

As they were brothers, she thought they would resemble each other.

The next class was the introduction to weapons class, and she spotted Hae-ryang, who was moving to the class of in-depth introduction to internal energy.

“Hae-ryang!”

“Miss, did you enjoy the first class?”

“Well, it was fine. What about yours?”

“It wasn’t bad either. The master was so flexible with us and funny too, and we barely started the course.”

“Oh really? The next one seems to be sweet.”

Mo Il-hwa smiled.

“How was the internal energy class? Forget that, what I am most interested in is, who is the special master?”

“Master Dan Baek-yeon.”

“Hah!”

A glint of light shone in Hae-ryang’s eyes.

He seemed happy.

Seeing him like that, Mo Il-hwa smiled

“It will be fun. I ended up feeling very refreshed.”

“…. Even though it was the first class?”

“Huh? Her voice is so comforting that it’ll be hard to hold back from falling asleep.”

At her words, Hae-ryang scratched his head.

He was wondering if he should like the statement or not.

Just then, Mumu came out of the room.

“Young master Mumu?”

“Hae-ryang!”

“You seem to be in trouble from the first class.”

He was convinced that Mo Il-hwa would be the best person to have on his side, so he kept trying to please her.

Seeing him like that, Mo Il-hwa shook his head.

And asked Mumu.

“Why were you asked to stay behind?”

“She wanted to check the condition of my body.”

“Condition of your body?”

“Yes.”

“Hm… was it because of that test?”

Her prediction was right.

Baek-yeon, who thought about it during the entire class, decided to take a look at Mumu’s body.

“And that is the end of it?”

“I don’t know. She said she would like to study my body when she has the time.”

“What?”

Mo Il-hwa raised her voice as she was a bit startled and then hushed herself feeling embarrassed.

“What do you mean?”

“Just that. She said my body is different from a normal person’s body.”

“Not different. A lot different.”

Mo Il-hwa looked at Mumu and then at Hye-ryang.

At that, Hae-ryang covered his body.

“Why are you…”

Compared to Mumu he almost had no muscles.

Not caring about it, Mo Il-hwa spoke to Mumu.

“Yah, Mumu. Listen to what I am telling you. No matter how famous the master in the academy is, if they ask to study your body or take a look at it, you should simply decline it.”

“Why?”

“What? Why? Hey? It is all about protecting yourself; From the moment you become a Murim, your body is supposed to be a secret no one can see, so don’t let others scrutinize your body.”

Jin-hyuk nodded at her words.

It made sense.

Just by examining the body, one could understand the flow of internal energy, which is why martial arts and the accompanying techniques cannot be revealed.

“Miss is right. It could be to touch your internal energy.”

“But I haven’t learned it.”

“… sigh.”

At Mumu’s words, Hae-ryang was speechless.

Come to think of it, Mumu hadn’t learned any martial arts at all.

And as such nothing could be obtained by looking at Mumu’s body.

“… right, Miss Mo.”

“Yah! I said no! A man should know how he should take care of himself. No matter what happens, if someone asks to look at your body, say no!”

“I heard that it would help with research and that I will be given a star rating.”

‘!?’

Hae-ryang couldn’t help but be surprised at it.

“S-star rating?”

“What is it?”

Mo Il-hwa and Jin-hyuk looked at him.

“Ahh. I see that you two don’t know.”

“Tell us what it is?”

“I told you before that there are a few things that the academy is proud of.”

“Right?”

“And the Heavenly Library is one of them.”

“Huh?”

“Yes?”

They heard about this from the inauguration ceremony.

It was said that the students of the academy will receive benefits such as various martial arts manuals and various medicines and weapons to enhance one's own martial arts.

“What do you mean?”

“It gets secretive from here…”

Hae-ryang looked around to confirm no one was around.

“Don’t you know that grading is of four stages?”

“Right.”

The first was for all the students.

The second was open to all second year students and the first year students with the highest grades.

The third stage was open to third years and the top ranked second years,

And finally the fourth stage, the last one, was open to only the third years with the top grades.

That was what they heard.

“Right. But that isn’t all there is, there are more hidden ones.”

“Really?”

“Shh. Just listen will you?”

According to Hae-ryang, conditions existed for entering the hidden ones.

It is said that it was something that only the headmaster or the audit committee and special department could give.

“And Mumu got that?”

“Yes.”

Curious, Mumu asked,

“Is that good?”

“Absolutely! I don't know what the benefits of the secret ones have, but those who enter and exit are known to take a huge step forward.”

‘A huge step forward.’

Even Jin-hyuk, who didn’t seem much interested, was engulfed in this.

It was the first time he knew about the Heavenly Library secret.

‘Did brother know about it?’

He thought.

And Mo Il-hwa asked.

“Then if Mumu got the star he can go there?”

“Probably, but I’ve been told that one needs at least 2 stars to get into the first secret floor.”

“So it means he needs to get stars from two people?”

“Right. However, I heard that getting stars would be very tough as the standards are high. Among the first year classes, there is only one class which gives up the opportunity to interact with a master of those departments.”

“Ah, right.”

This meant at most a first year would only be able to earn one star though.

So, in fact it was safe to say that no first year would enter those secret archives.

Taking that into account,

“Ehhh. It can be used later. But wouldn’t using it right away work?”

“It could be that. But the important thing is to just receive it.”

“Why?”

“It really matters. There is a rumor circulating around those who graduated with high grades.”

“What is that?”

“There is a secret that in the last secret archives of the academy there is a very important thing.”

“What thing?”

“It is a rumor so I can’t be sure.”

“Tell me so I can try to understand it.”

“There is a rumor that there is a damaged copy of the supreme martial technique of, Truth of Heavenly Martial.”

‘!!!’

At that, Jin-hyuk was shocked. Among those who practice martial arts, was there anyone who didn’t know of this technique?

Even Mo Il-hwa seemed to know of it.

There was a story that even the Southern Sword Emperor was nothing compared to the other three, but after reading just a page of it he had changed drastically.

“Is that the truth?”

“Do you know of the Martial Heavenly Sword, Ryu-hyeon?”

Except for Jin-hyuk’s older brother, Yu Jin-sung, he was the most respected swordsman.

As the second ranked, he had graduated from the heavenly Martial Arts academy with the highest grades.

And among them, he was an expert who was known to have the most completed martial arts.

“I heard that the Infinite Sword is the only one who went into the last one and came out.”

At that Jin-hyuk’s eyes trembled.

If that was the case, he couldn’t help but feel interested.

‘If it is that book…’

Anyone would be envious.

And Mo Il-hwa said,

“Awesome… wait, then you are saying that Mumu earned one star, a condition which allows him to enter it?”

“It is like that. Of course, you can only enter the final one only after earning 8 stars.”

The last archive can be opened if one was successful in all ways.

Which meant the conditions were harsh, but Mumu luckily managed to get one.

Mo Il-hwa spoke while holding Mumu’s shoulder.

“Mumu. I take back my words!. Be sure to get more stars! Don’t miss this chance!”

At the sudden change in her attitude, Hae-ryang stuck his tongue out.

Despite the fuss, Mumu didn’t seem interested.

“Is that good?”

“Yah! Didn’t you just hear? A secret which has been passed down in legends. Legends! If people knew about it, they would be raging.”

“Okay?”

“You aren’t interested in anything other than muscle training? That thing is a value which cannot be converted into money.”

Mumu had no interest in martial arts.

Actually, the star too sounded nice to him because it seemed nice on his ears.

“Phew.”

Mo Il-hwa, who was frustrated by it, changed her mind.

“It is something which can help you build muscles a lot easier, faster and perfectly too.”

“Oh!!!”

Those words finally were able to elicit a reaction from Mumu, something that hadn’t happened this whole conversation.

It seemed like muscles were all he thought about.

When she spoke about muscles, she could see Mumu react like a normal person.

‘It’s that good?’

Finally Mumu understood their reactions.

And it didn’t seem like a bad idea to get something which everyone seemed to be interested in.

And then, he suddenly thought,

‘Oh? If I ask the deputy to give me one star will I be able to enter the first archive?’