Chapter 12 - Act 3. Daemudo Entrance Examination (5)

Ascending to the heavenly realm seemed to mean he had become an Immortal and gone up to heaven. Then why hadn't anyone filled the position of Lord of Daemudo?

Noticing Yise's puzzlement, Hong Mihui answered with a smile.

“The most advanced great Core Formation Cultivator in Daemudo right now is Hae Il, the Azure Dragon Hall Master. But he declared that he wouldn't inherit the position until he matched the Lord's realm. That makes it awkward for any of the less accomplished Hall Masters to step forward... so we've left it vacant.”

Having explained, she turned to Kang Itae.

“Should we ask Cultivator Hae Il or the Chief Administrator? Something tells me those two might know.”

“We would be lucky if the Azure Dragon Hall Master didn't simply scold us for bothering him. The Chief Administrator is away, so if the boy enters Daemudo and the opportunity arises, I will send word. Both are extremely busy with affairs public and private, however. Whether they would concern themselves with a new Qi Refining disciple...”

A constitution was only a constitution.

Another cultivation faction might have poured everything its families had into raising him as a core fighter. But in Daemudo, it wasn't the strong who survived; it was the survivors who were strong. Even those with unusual constitutions commonly dropped dead without ever advancing beyond Qi Refining.

“True, but if he has the same constitution as the Lord, wouldn't that interest them? Our Chief Administrator goes completely mad over anything to do with the Lord. Anyway, little one, try not to do anything rash. Focus on your examinations for now. It would be rather awkward if a side effect of your constitution split your body into thirty-six pieces, wouldn't it?”

“Yes. I'll be careful.”

Yise answered politely, then added,

“If you have no further business with me, may I return? I need to eat and do my afternoon conditioning.”

Lost training time was a matter of grave importance.

* * *

“What an odd little boy.”

“Ahaha. It's probably Mongryeon's influence. You know how seriously she takes meals...”

Gong Wol-ah answered Hong Mihui with a soft smile.

Hong Mihui scolded her for smiling so vacantly, then poked Kang Itae in the ribs with her fan.

“Quite a few promising children this time. I thought you'd been lounging around all this time. Apparently you do work?”

“You are the last person I wish to hear that from, Hall Master Hong.”

“What? What did I do?”

“Don't you have the lowest mission acceptance rate of any Hall Master in Daemudo?”

“Because I'm busy? Where do you think all your ritual implements come from? Your elixir pills? Your talismans?”

“Those are simply part of your duties as a Hall Master.”

“Unbelievable. Anyway, stop being so lax about selecting them. Of the disciples admitted last year, fewer than one in ten survived their missions over the past year. They're all dying out there. Hm? Could we make a proper selection?”

“I merely follow the rules.”

“‘I mewewy fowwow the wules.’”

Hong Mihui twisted her face into a grotesque grimace. Watching her squander her pretty features, Kang Itae clicked his tongue.

Who would believe this woman was a Daoist over four hundred years old?

“... And this is supposed to be a Daoist. Act your age, Hall Master.”

“What?! Did you just call me an old monster?”

“Me? I did no such thing. I asked you to act your age.”

“That's the same thing!”

Hong Mihui huffed, Kang Itae furrowed his brow, and Gong Wol-ah clapped beside them.

“If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave.”

“Why not stay a little longer, since you're here?”

“We're all busy people.”

With those few words, Banho departed on a flying ritual implement.

Hong Mihui fanned herself irritably.

“That tiger. Pretending he's so busy.”

“Don't be so hard on him.”

“What did I do? Young people these days have no manners.”

The three Hall Masters laughed and chatted like that for a while before slowly rising.

It was good to see one another after so long, but they were busier than anyone. Their positions were too important for them to spend their time idling.

“Still, there are plenty of interesting children this year. Raise them well and send them to the Inner Halls, my idle fellow Daoist Kang Itae.”

Kang Itae frowned slightly.

Hong Mihui, the Vermilion Bird Hall Master, was known as a madwoman.

She possessed a wealth of abilities and talents, but foremost among them was her eye for talent and constitutions. It would be no exaggeration to call her the best on the continent.

If even she was looking forward to this intake, it must be teeming with talent for the first time in a while.

Kang Itae felt the weight on his shoulders grow.

* * *

'What a long day.'

After finishing his evening training, Yise returned to the applicants' quarters.

His room was small, but private. Considering there were nearly a hundred and seventy applicants, that alone spoke to Daemudo's resources.

'There's even a night-glowing pearl, small as it is...'

Strictly speaking, applicants were guests, not formal disciples. No one would criticize Daemudo for giving them a little less attention. Wasn't this rather excessive hospitality?

'Are they showing off their wealth?'

Apparently, most youths in the Three Kingdoms of the Peninsula were desperate to enter Daemudo even without such efforts. Still, a flourishing sect flourished for a reason.

For Yise, having no one disturb him was welcome enough.

RUSTLE.

He turned a page. Normally, he would have been in bed by now.

He followed his schedule rigorously, never straying from it by even a quarter-hour, but he needed to read the <Daemudo Basic Handbook> thoroughly at least once, even if it meant sacrificing sleep. On the first day, he had only had time to skim parts of it, and today the examination had kept him busy all day.

The first page listed the Ten Commandments of an Exorcist.

Mongryeon had already drilled them into his ears. He turned the page.

There was a simple organizational chart of Daemudo. Too basic to be confidential, it seemed intended merely to explain the hierarchy.

At the very top were the Lord of Daemudo and the Chief Administrator who assisted him.

Below them were eleven halls, known as the Eleven Inner Halls.

Disciples belonging to the Inner Halls were called legacy disciples, and had to reach at least Foundation Establishment to join.

All disciples who did not belong to an Inner Hall were called formal disciples and carried out various missions. In practice, this category encompassed most disciples.

Besides these were outer affiliates who were not disciples but worked under Daemudo, and secular disciples: inner disciples who had branched out independently to establish secular houses.

These were the people who made up Daemudo.

'It doesn't say how large it is.'

All the seemingly important information had been omitted. His guess was that, counting the outer affiliates, it numbered at least several thousand, perhaps close to ten thousand.

RUSTLE.

Another page turned. The next section listed the various rules a Daemudo disciple needed to know.

Hunting spirit beasts is forbidden.

Gathering spiritual materials is forbidden.

Killing fellow Daemudo disciples or destroying their spiritual roots is forbidden.

Travel beyond Daemudo's territory is forbidden.

Areas dangerous to enter at each cultivation realm.

Code of conduct upon encountering a Demon of a higher realm.

Code of conduct upon encountering independent Cultivators (Cultivators with no affiliation).

How to respond upon encountering demonic-path sects or other cultivation factions.

There were other instructions too, such as addressing Cultivators of higher realms as “Senior” out of respect, and addressing fellow Cultivators as “fellow Daoist” or “Cultivator.”

As he read, it seemed less like knowledge specific to Daemudo disciples and more like the general education any Cultivator ought to have.

Take the following passages, for example.

「Demons are transparent, inside and out. Cultivators, however, all too often appear pure white outside while being pitch-black within. When facing enemies of the same realm, eight or nine times out of ten, a Cultivator is far more dangerous than a Demon.」

「If a Cultivator from outside shows you kindness for no reason, there is invariably an ulterior motive you do not know of, greater than the kindness offered.」

「Statistically, nine out of ten people who enter private soul-binding contracts are worked like slaves and then murdered.」

The latter half of the book catalogued the Qi Refining Demons that formal disciples in Qi Refining would most often face on missions, from Level Nine through Level One.

He already knew most of it, but new information caught his eye here and there.

He found it particularly interesting why only Qi Refining Demons were divided into levels, while those at Foundation Establishment and above were not.

Qi Refining Cultivators were dying in droves. To improve their chances of survival even slightly, Demons were divided by Risk Level rather than cultivation realm, allowing the Cultivators to work their way up step by step.

<Fight with your life on the line, but do not take your life lightly.>

For some reason, he smiled at the passage. It laid bare the worries of Daemudo's leadership.

Eyes shining, he devoured the words as though savoring the finest delicacy in the world. Whoever the author was, their writing was truly superb.

* * *

The third day's examination began.

The third test assessed hand-to-hand combat. Thirteen applicants would be gathered for a group melee while the examiners scored them.

In a sense, this was the first test that truly felt like one. Tension was plain on the applicants' faces.

The first thirteen applicants called stepped forward.

“Look at the pattern on the floor.”

Kang Itae explained the simple rules.

“This formation restricts the use of spiritual energy. From this moment on, use only your body's natural abilities to subdue one another until a single person remains. If you fall or leave the formation, your assessment ends. Prepare yourselves.”

A moment later, the word “Begin” set the test in motion. The applicants initially hesitated, warily watching one another, before plunging into a fierce melee.

It was fierce. Fierce, yes, but...

'They're not up to standard.'

To Yise, it was mere child's play compared with his unarmed bouts against the Dokkaebi boys.

Their determination to enter the sect seemed genuine, though. Most kept desperately swinging their fists even with split lips and blood streaming down their faces.

No.

Their fighting wasn't below standard. His training with the Dokkaebi boys had simply gone too far.

Watching them fight at almost the limits of their bodies, Yise reconsidered.

At last, when only one applicant remained, his face so battered it was barely recognizable, the first bout ended.

“Jo Seongmin. Wang Jae. You fail.”

Two out of thirteen had been eliminated.

Yise tried to work out the criteria, but was somewhat puzzled. The applicant called Wang Jae had lasted almost until the end.

“That guy spent most of his time dodging people. Looks like you fail if you don't actively fight.”

“Oh,” Yise murmured at Hae Unchan's explanation.

The next group was called, and this time three failed.

By around the halfway mark, the average was two failures per group.

The atmosphere grew increasingly heated, and injuries mounted. After one applicant bit into a competitor's ear and left the place awash in blood, some of the other applicants began dry-heaving.

Even then, the examiners did nothing to intervene. The applicant who had bitten his opponent's ear even roared, as though a high score was his due.

Yise now understood exactly what made someone fail.

Physical abilities so poor that they fell short of the minimum standard, excessive passivity, or giving up too readily after taking a few blows.

However he looked at it, this was a little... excessive for a Daoist order's examination.

It was a dissonance he doubted he would easily get used to.