The Eight Stars of Heavenly Martial Castle and the department heads nodded vigorously, as though they completely agreed with Jeok Mugun.
Seeing them, Jeok Mugun gave a faint laugh.
“I can understand the Eight Stars, but what do the rest of you know to be nodding along like that? Don’t tell me you fought him too?”
When the department heads nodded again, Jeok Mugun burst into laughter.
“Bwahahaha! Of course you couldn’t resist trying him for yourselves. You really are men of Heavenly Martial Castle. That makes this much easier. Did you hear that? Every single bastard here has fought Wigang.”
Jeok Rigeuk and Jeok Ripae stood there in disbelief.
Were they dreaming?
Jeok Rigeuk slowly opened his mouth.
“Then... what becomes of all the effort Wihwang put in?”
“He gained strength from it. Be satisfied with that. That position was never one your children could have taken in the first place.”
“I want to fight him myself. I need to be convinced first before I can... convince my son.”
At Jeok Rigeuk’s words, Jeok Mugun looked at Jeok Ripae.
“You feel the same?”
Jeok Ripae nodded.
Jeok Mugun turned to Jeok Wigang.
“Looks like you’ll have to step in. Show them beyond any doubt.”
“Yes. Uncles, shall we go outside?”
“No. Since we’re doing this, let’s settle everything at once. Go bring Wihwang and Wisin too. They should experience it firsthand so they have no reason to feel wronged afterward.”
Jeok Rigeuk and Jeok Ripae nodded at Jeok Mugun’s words.
“Understood.”
“And while you’re at it, if you have any spirit medicine you’ve been saving, take it and come back in your best possible condition.”
“Father?”
“That way you’ll have no regrets.”
“...Understood.”
“What do you mean? A successor was chosen without even holding the trial?”
What Jeok Wihwang had just heard from his father, Jeok Rigeuk, made no sense.
“The Eight Stars and the department heads had already decided on that boy as the next Lord of the Castle. In truth, holding the trial would have been pointless.”
“That’s impossible. I can’t believe it!”
“I saw it with my own eyes and still couldn’t believe it, so naturally you feel the same.”
Jeok Rigeuk looked at Jeok Wihwang.
“That’s why you should go see for yourself. Find out whether he really is someone even we can acknowledge.”
Jeok Wihwang nodded, his expression grim.
“Understood. I’ll see with my own eyes whether he truly deserves that kind of recognition.”
“Good. Take this.”
“This is... Isn’t this the Heavenly Qi Pill you’ve treasured all this time? Why are you giving it to me, Father?”
“Your grandfather told us that if we had any spirit pills we’d been saving, we should take them and arrive in peak condition. So take it. Then we’ll circulate our qi.”
“Yes. Understood.”
The two looked like generals preparing to march onto a battlefield.
The grand training ground of Heavenly Martial Castle.
Jeok Rigeuk, Jeok Ripae, and their two sons stood in the center.
Facing them was Jeok Wigang.
Between the two sides stood Jeok Mugun with his hands clasped behind his back.
“Who goes first?”
At Jeok Ripae’s question, Jeok Mugun replied,
“What do you mean, who goes first? All four of you attack together.”
“What? You want the four of us to join forces and attack that boy?”
“Yes. Go all out from the beginning. For this moment, don’t think of him as your nephew. Think of him as a mortal enemy in a life-or-death battle.”
“That far...?”
“It’ll be over quickly anyway, so give it everything you have. That way you won’t regret anything afterward.”
The way Jeok Mugun casually declared that it would be over quickly only made them feel worse.
Jeok Mugun looked at Jeok Wigang.
“Show them clearly. Otherwise there’ll be complaints afterward.”
“Understood.”
“Then begin.”
With those final words, Jeok Mugun’s body floated into the air. He flew over to the seat prepared in advance and sat down.
Jeok Rigeuk, Jeok Ripae, Jeok Wihwang, and Jeok Wisin all turned toward Jeok Wigang.
“I’ll test him first.”
Just as Jeok Rigeuk was about to move—
“All four of you should come at me.”
“You brat! Just how little do you think of us?”
“It’s not that I’m looking down on you.... But I suppose there’s no helping it.”
Jeok Wigang murmured something under his breath.
The entire grand training ground rippled.
“What was that?”
“I put up a barrier around the area for safety.”
“You put one up?”
“It’s sorcery.”
“You use sorcery too?”
“Yes. But I won’t use any during the fight, so don’t worry.”
“There’s something I want to ask.”
“Go ahead.”
“I heard... your body is incapable of learning martial arts. Were you cured?”
“No. My body still can’t learn martial arts.”
“What?”
“But it doesn’t really matter.”
Jeok Wigang raised a fist.
“Because this is strong.”
They had no idea what he was talking about.
But perhaps they would finally understand once they experienced it themselves.
“Fine. So you truly intend to take on all four of us?”
“Yes. I’ll even give you the first move.”
All four faces twisted at once.
He was openly humiliating them in front of everyone.
“You brat! I’ll see for myself just how strong you are to act like this!”
Unable to endure it any longer, Jeok Rigeuk charged forward and threw a punch.
Whoosh—!
Thoom—!
Jeok Wigang casually blocked the fist, despite the force behind it being enough to produce a sharp crack through the air.
Whoom—
A shock wave spread outward, whipping the clothes of the three people standing behind Jeok Rigeuk.
“You’re strong.”
“Y-You...”
“Are the rest of you really not coming?”
The others could only stare in a daze.
“Then we’re short on time, so I’ll come to you.”
Jeok Rigeuk barely managed to cross both arms in front of himself as Jeok Wigang’s fist suddenly appeared right before his face.
BAAANG—!
“Ghk!”
He had even layered three barriers of condensed qi over his arms just in case, yet the impact still felt as though it would shatter his bones as he was driven backward.
Meanwhile, Jeok Wigang launched himself toward Jeok Ripae, Jeok Wihwang, and Jeok Wisin.
Caught off guard by his greater-than-expected speed, the three hurriedly defended themselves.
Thud-thud-thud—!
“Ghk!”
Even after blocking, they were sent flying, groans erupting from every direction.
“Come on. You don’t want to leave with regrets, do you?”
“Fine! I acknowledge you! I’ll use everything I have!”
A tremendous aura surged from Jeok Rigeuk.
Jeok Ripae, Jeok Wihwang, and Jeok Wisin likewise released everything they had and drew out their full strength.
All four unleashed the strongest techniques they could bring to bear against Jeok Wigang at the same time.
ROOOAR—!
Rrrrrumble—!
The grand training ground shook violently as though an earthquake had struck.
When the attacks finally ended, the four men were confronted with an unbelievable sight.
Jeok Wigang was smiling as he took their full-power attacks head-on.
He was not blocking.
He was not dodging.
He had not even erected a barrier.
He had simply stood there and taken everything.
His clothes had been reduced to rags, proving that the attacks had indeed landed.
“It’s been a while since my clothes ended up like this.”
Normally, he would have protected them with a barrier so they would not tear.
But this time, he had decided that letting them see the result with their own eyes would be more convincing.
Riiip— Riiip—
He tore away the shredded scraps of cloth and casually tossed them aside before looking at the four men.
“Now it’s my turn. We can talk again once you wake up.”
Wake up?
They were already standing.
Why was he talking as though they had already been knocked unconscious?
Jeok Wigang vanished.
Jeok Rigeuk shot upright.
For a moment, he sat there blankly, trying to gather his thoughts.
Was that a dream?
It felt as though he had just had some utterly absurd dream.
Looking beside him, he saw Jeok Ripae, Jeok Wihwang, and Jeok Wisin sleeping soundly.
One side of each man’s face was swollen.
Jeok Rigeuk cautiously touched his own face.
“Ugh!”
Pain shot through him.
It was badly swollen too.
So it wasn’t a dream?
The problem was that he had absolutely no idea when or how he had been hit and knocked unconscious.
While Jeok Rigeuk was still sorting through his thoughts, Jeok Ripae stirred and sat up.
The moment he saw Jeok Rigeuk, he blinked.
“Brother? Your face...?”
“Take a look at your own.”
“What?”
Jeok Ripae touched his face.
“Ugh!”
Jeok Rigeuk gave a faint laugh at the reaction.
“What happened?”
“What do you think happened? All four of us got hit and knocked out.”
“I don’t even remember how he got me.”
“Neither do I. The gap is so ridiculous I can’t even laugh about it.”
“I’m challenging him again. I can’t leave it like this. It doesn’t sit right with me.”
“To be fair, I have no idea what happened either, so I’m a little dissatisfied myself.”
RUMBLE—!
An explosive sound echoed outside, accompanied by a tremor through the ground.
“What was that? Are we under attack?”
“Let’s go see.”
The shaking seemed to bring Jeok Wihwang and Jeok Wisin back to consciousness as well.
“You’re awake?”
“Yes. Where are we?”
“Looks like all four of us were knocked unconscious. Something seems to be happening outside, so let’s check the situation first. We’ll talk afterward.”
“Yes.”
The four hurried outside.
What they saw there was unbelievable.
“You brat! I told you to take it easy!”
“Come on. You can block this much now.”
KRA-BOOM—!
Every time Jeok Mugun and Jeok Wigang collided in midair, the impact cracked through the air and sent waves rolling outward like a tidal surge.
Whooom—
Even the force carried in those waves was tremendous enough to make the four spectators sway where they stood.
They stared blankly at the fight.
“That... is a fight between humans?”
“Father is attacking with everything he has. And Nephew Wigang is blocking it like it’s nothing.”
“What’s even scarier is that he’s smiling so brightly while doing it.”
“Huh? I’ve never seen Father use that martial art before. Wait... don’t tell me he’s actually going to attack him with that?”
Without the slightest hesitation, Jeok Mugun launched the unfamiliar technique at Jeok Wigang.
“My God! He’s using something like that on his own grandson?”
“S-Shouldn’t we stop him?”
“How are we supposed to stop it after it’s already been unleashed?”
BANG—!
They were still reeling from the absurd martial art Jeok Mugun had used when Jeok Wigang simply punched it out of existence.
All four men’s mouths fell open.
“H-He... erased it with nothing but his fist.”
“So it’s true that he hasn’t learned martial arts....”
“I couldn’t sense any inner qi.”
“...Then it really is true.”
Jeok Mugun, the Heavenly Martial Emperor.
The greatest martial artist of all ages.
An absolute warrior who had seemed to have no equal beneath the heavens.
And yet right now, he was struggling.
“You brat! I told you to take it easy!”
“I am taking it easy.”
“Good grief, my own grandson is going to kill his grandfather!”
“You’ve gotten awfully dramatic.”
“I’m not being dramatic! It actually hurts!”
“You’re blocking just fine.”
“Hey! It still hurts even when I block!”
Listening to them, Jeok Rigeuk spoke in disbelief.
“Was Father always this talkative?”
“I always thought he was terrifying... but seeing him today, he seems a lot more human.”
“I never imagined I’d see Father being pushed around by someone like that.... It’s strangely refreshing.”
“I feel the same.”
“Could the four of us make him struggle like that?”
The other three shook their heads at the same time.
“Judging by what I’m seeing, Nephew Wigang doesn’t seem to be struggling against Father much either.”
At Jeok Ripae’s words, they looked more carefully.
He was right.
“...He isn’t even sweating.”
They continued watching the battle.
Then Jeok Mugun shouted,
“You bastards! If you’re awake, get over here!”
“What? Where?”
“Help me stop this bastard! Your father is in trouble, and you’re just standing there watching?”
“Are you serious? You hate it when anyone interferes while you’re fighting.”
“Not now! Hurry! Aaargh! You brat! Take it easy!”
“I’m going easier than I did before.”
“You little—! Are you saying I’m lying? You’ve gotten stronger since last time!”
“Huh? Have I? I guess I got stronger as my body developed.”
“Don’t say something like that so casually. It makes everything feel pointless.”
Jeok Wigang grinned at Jeok Mugun’s complaint.
He really had become stronger than before.
It was probably because his body had developed twice since then.
He did not know the exact reason.
Still, getting stronger was a good thing.

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