Childhood Friend of the Zenith

There were different types of training held at the Heavenly Dragon Academy, but they tried to avoid having more than four in a day.

After all, the Young Prodigies needed time for personal training as well.

Hence, the instructors didn’t go too hard in the sessions they conducted.

As  I said before, people came to the Academy for the purpose of building connections and for fame.

Well, the Academy did have a decent education system, but the Young Prodigies didn’t really need to come here as they could learn most of these things at their clans or Sects.

Though no one would actually listen to me if I said this, so I didn’t even bother.

And what would change if I told them what they already knew?

Anyways, four days had passed since the Academy started.

Some said those four days went by pretty quickly, while others were surprised that so many days had already gone by.

I was one of those who felt that time had gone by quickly, but a few incidents occurred in that same period of time.

One was a rumor that said that a student of the Academy won against an instructor.

Yes.

It was about me.

Rumors spread way too quickly.

That rumor spread rather quickly after I defeated Cheol Hwanho.

And by the win, I was speaking about the bet.

I didn’t actually defeat an instructor in a fight, but the rumor heavily implied that I did.

Seriously, these guys really loved to exaggerate things.

It would’ve been a bit more difficult if it was a real fight.

Since I knew what type of person he was, I was able to get on Cheol Hwanho’s nerves, which in turn led to that situation.

If Cheol Hwanho had really gotten provoked by me and we ended up sparring, it wouldn’t have been easy for me.

He would have been a difficult opponent even if I was in my peak condition.

The Orthodox Blue Fist.

A martial artist on the verge of reaching the Fusion Realm, just like me.

Seeing that he had reached the Fusion Realm before I became a Demonic Human in my past life, I guess he would soon reach the Fusion Realm in this timeline as well.

Even if he hadn’t reached it yet, in the end, it meant that he had that much potential in him.

And since I couldn’t predict the outcome if I fought him in my peak condition, it would have been a bit too difficult to fight him while I was injured.

Ugh, it’s sore…

I massaged my Dantian.

That spot still felt sore.

And it had gotten worse since I used the Flaming Sphere that day.

There wasn’t much recoil as I retrieved it instead of detonating it, but it still took a toll.

But it worked out in the end.

As I expected, Cheol Hwanho made a bet and I emerged victorious by using the Flaming Sphere.

If things went awry and we ended up sparring, I would’ve had to use everything I had, including my Blood Qi, to defeat him.

If that happened, I would’ve been bedridden for at least a month.

Just thinking about it gave me the chills, but I was glad that everything worked out in the end.

Thanks to that, I was given free time in the morning.

It should be fine since everyone else is probably rolling and running around now, right?

With my heightened senses, I was wandering around, looking for a deserted spot.

My destination; the entrance to the secret vault somewhere in a basement.

I have about two hours.

The training would last longer than that, but I would have to return after two hours just to be safe.

The only problem was…

I know nothing about Formations.

There was a high possibility that Formations would be used to protect the entrance to the secret vault.

Moreover, it was also possible that most of the Murim Alliance didn’t know about what was in the basement of the Heavenly Dragon Academy.

And I had almost no knowledge when it came to Formations.

‘After allI also had the bad habit of breaking and ripping apart Formations in my past life.’

In my past life, all I had to do was simply endure the recoil whenever I ripped through Formations.

However, I couldn’t afford to do such a thing in this life.

Judging by how I can’t even sense it, it seems like they did an amazing job hiding it.

How did the Heavenly Demon even manage to find it?

The Heavenly Demon probably came across it coincidentally while destroying everything around it.

Formations didn’t work against the Heavenly Demon, so the Heavenly Demon just found it and broke through it.

That’s probably what happened.

The important thing was, that the secret vault really existed in the basement.

And I just had half a year to find it.

That would be the best for my plan.

After all, I can only start planning after I find that thing.

It had already been a few days, and it seemed like today was another bust.

After taking out a piece of paper…

Slit.

I scratched my fingertip and used my blood as ink.

I was marking all the places I’d checked.

Even if the Heavenly Dragon Academy was huge, considering that I had spent more than a few days exploring the place and seeing that I still didn’t find it…

It’s either possible that I can’t locate it with my senses, or the entrance is located outside of the Academy.

What a hassle.

I never thought that this would be easy, and it was harder than expected.

It’s problematic if it’s outside of the Academy.

The Heavenly Dragon Academy had a barrier enclosing it.

I also heard that they used some precious treasures to set up these barriers as it would cause a huge problem if any of the precious children from the noble clans and Sects got ambushed.

Though, I couldn’t leave whenever I wanted because of that.

Tsk.

What should I do?

If it was really outside the Academy, then I would have to wait until summer, when I could return home for some time.

But that would really be a waste of time.

…I’ll first go back…

I had to ponder over it back at my dorm since I was short on time.

And just as I was about to return…

Rustle.

I felt a presence in the tallgrass behind me.

My hair all stood up at the same time.

Why are they here?

Considering how I failed to notice their presence despite having my senses sharpened, it meant that that person was also hiding their presence.

Moreover, it was dangerous since I couldn’t detect them.

Which bastard is it?

Ignoring my injury, I gathered my Qi without hesitation.

And after enveloping my body with the heat, I turned towards the presence.

I first have to see- Huh?

Pause!

Just as I was about to gather my Combat Qi, my body froze like a rock as soon as I saw the person behind me.

“Huh…?”They also froze on seeing me.

They, no, the lady was on the verge of drawing her sword.

A beautiful lady, who seemed to be a little over the age of thirty, wearing a white outfit with blue outerwear, symbolizing that she was an instructor at the Academy.

I then noticed the plum flower symbol under her outerwear.

“Why…”

The heroine of Mount Hua who inherited the title of Sword Queen.

The Plum Blossom Sword.

On seeing me…

“Why are you here?”

She asked in a rather confused tone, but I was the one who really wanted to ask her that question.

******************I heard that they had turned the small forest behind the Heavenly Dragon Academy building into a trail for people to walk on, but hardly anyone used it.

Understandably so. Who would have time for a leisurely walk when they were busy training and learning at the Academy?

“Why are you here?”

That said, this meeting was rather unexpected.

The Sword Queen stared at the person she ran into.

A student who should have been focusing on his morning training.

The subject of everyone’s interest was standing right in front of her.

“…Hello?”

His greeting was awkward, yet familiar.

“Aren’t you supposed to be training right now? Why are you…”

“…I’ve been excused by Instructor Cheol Hwanho …”

She was wondering what he was talking about…

So that was the case.

But it didn’t take long for the Sword Queen to understand.

The news of Cheol Hwanho losing against a student had reached the ears of the Sword Queen as well.

She also heard that the Head of the Academy scolded him afterward…

“Then, you should be back in your dormitory, so why are you here?”

“I came here for a walk since I heard it was nice”

That was a lie.

The Sword Queen realized it immediately.

“That’s…”

“Instructor, I should be the one asking you that.”

“…”

“Aren’t you supposed to be training your students?”

The Sword Queen started racking her brain as soon as she heard Gu Yangcheon.

“…I’m in charge of the afternoon training.”

“I see. Then why are you here…?”

“…I’m… taking a walk.”

“Ah, is that so?”

Their conversation was brief.

Both of them were rolling their eyes due to the awkward situation they created.

Gu Yangcheon knew that it was possible that the Sword Queen knew right away that he was lying.

However, Gu Yangcheon also knew that the Sword Queen was lying to him as well.

Because of that, an awkward silence lingered.

Huh?

That’s odd.

Gu Yangcheon wondered while staring at the Sword Queen.

What is she hiding?

Judging by the Sword Queen’s reaction, it seemed like she was hiding something.

To begin with, she probably came here as an instructor because she had a goal, and judging by her current appearance, it seemed like the Sword Queen was looking for something as well.

Could it be…Is she looking for the secret vault as well?

It was suspicious to see the Sword Queen wander around the Heavenly Dragon Academy like this.

Does that mean she is also looking for the secret vault?

Such a thought passed through Gu Yangcheon’s mind.

If that’s the case, how does she know about the secret vault?

After all, no one knew of its existence until the Heavenly Demon made its appearance.

Therefore, it would have been strange if she knew about it.

If she does know about it, then what should I do?

Look for it together?

Then how would I explain the fact that I also knew about it?

This isn’t good.

It was possible that it wasn’t related to the secret vault, but I Was certain that the Sword Queen also had a goal of her own.

Or we wouldn’t have run into each other like this.

Just as Gu Yangcheon was wondering about his next move, the Sword Queen started speaking after organizing her thoughts.

“I… heard about something.”

“What is it?”

I immediately paid attention as I thought that she was going to talk about our current situation.

I was sure the Sword Queen thought hard about it too.

“The technique you used back in the exam ground…”

“Yes, wait huh? Pardon…? All of a sudden…?”

I was confused for a second as that was so out of the blue.

I wondered why she was suddenly bringing up what happened back then.

Does she have a good reason for it?

As I was lost in my thoughts, the Sword Queen spoke.

“From what I heard, it looks like you didn’t have to actually detonate that Secret Art of yours back then.”

“…”

My mind went blank after hearing that.

Oh… fuck.

How does she kn- …Oh.

I wondered how the Sword Queen found out about that, but I remembered that I retrieved it during my fight with Cheol Hwanho.

It seemed like Cheol Hwanho had given a detailed report about our spar.

Cold sweat ran down my back.

…I’m fucked, aren’t I?

I had totally forgotten about it during my fight with Cheol Hwanho.

I had forgotten about the trouble I had caused the Sword Queen when I detonated that orb in my fight against her.

Ugh, you retard, how could you forget about that…

If I knew something like this would have happened, I would’ve chosen a different method.

“I thought about coming to see you…”

“Me? Why?”

“I wonder why?”

It was even scarier to see her playing coy.

“…Uh.”

“I’ll overlook it this time.”

“Huh?”

The Sword Queen smiled kindly as she stared at me.

And that smile made it even scarier.

“We both have things we want to keep secret, so I should let you off this time.”

“…”

She was pretty straightforward.

The Sword Queen was asking me to keep quiet since she was going to let me off for what I did to her back then.

I guess it was a win-win deal for both of us, but her gaze made me feel rather uncomfortable.

No matter how much I thought about it, there was no way she was going to let me off so easily.

“Uh, Sword Queen.”

“Yes.”

“Are you really okay with– …Never mind.”

I stopped midway.

She was not okay with it no matter how much I looked at her.

She was definitely angry, but she was forcing herself to smile while holding herself back.

In situations like this*, one must make a break for it.*

“Then I shall be taking my leave first. I hope you enjoy your walk.”

“Alright.”

Gu Yangcheon quickly fled from the scene, while the Sword Queen watched him leave with a strange gaze.

******************Since the Academy started, a small and big incident had occurred in just four days.

One of them was that Gu Yangcheon had taunted an instructor and even won against them.

Because of the number of witnesses, an exaggerated rumor spread quickly.

A horrible rumor was going about, one that said that the True Dragon broke an instructor’s arms and legs and stepped on their head while cursing their parents out and also doing the same to the other students. That rumor also made many people speculate if the True Dragon was the strongest of the Six Dragons and Three Phoenixes.

And it was hard to still see him as a Young Prodigy since he defeated an instructor.

The other thing was that the students started forming their cliques.

It was probably on the smaller side or maybe it was bigger than that, but it was certain that cliques were being formed in the Academy.

It may have been strange for cliques to form in just a few days, but Cheol Jiseon was certain it was truly happening.

“Hahaha, so the Meteor Sword knows about it as well?”

“Of course. I believe it’s first made in Henan?”

“Ah, that’s right. I’m saying this now since it’s brought up, but I actually met up with the person who actually made– “

What a joke.

Numerous Young Prodigies were talking to each other in polite tones.

All of them were speaking about the places they came from and about their achievements, but they were obviously just bragging.

Among that group of people, was someone sitting at the center.

The Meteor Sword, Jang Seonyeon.

He was in the same group as Cheol Jiseon.

Although he wasn’t one of the Six Dragons and the Three Phoenixes, he was famous for his incredible talent.

The son of the current Alliance Leader, the Harmonic Sword Jang Cheon.

Jang Seonyeon was one of the people Cheol Jiseon planned to get closer to, but it wasn’t easy when he was surrounded by so many people,

“Hey, aren’t you going to respond?”

Nor was he in a situation where he could even approach him.

Pow–!

“Ugh!”

Cheol Jiseon fell straight to the ground when someone struck the back of his head.

“You aren’t responding even though I called you repeatedly.”

When Cheol Jiseon turned around while rubbing the back of his head, he saw a Young Prodigy who was sitting behind him.

He called him? That was a lie.

The bastard didn’t call Cheol Jiseon.

“…What’s up?”

Despite knowing that, Cheol Jiseon held himself back.

“I called you for fun. Why? Do you feel offended?”

As the bastard started to giggle, the others around him joined in as well.

Sigh…

In response, Cheol Jiseon sighed in his mind.

Once they noticed that he wasn’t capable of keeping up with the training, they began to tease him.

Even though he had come to the great Heavenly Dragon Academy, he felt ashamed because he was unable to retort.

I didn’t come here for this.

He clenched the fist that was on his knee.

I really didn’t come here for this.

I knew that it would be hard, but for this to happen from the very start.

“Your eyes look a little strange, you know? I think he’s offended. Guys, master Cheol Jiseon is offended.”

“He’s offended? Oh no, he must’ve been offended when he struggled back there too.”

“…”

When the instructor called on Cheol Jiseon to ask him a question about the topic they were learning, Cheol Jiseon ended up stuttering out of nervousness.

And the others around him were teasing him about it.

“If you don’t like it, then let’s settle it with a spar.”

The bastard stared down at Cheol Jiseon while flexing his muscles.

Having that he was over the level of a First rate, he wasn’t someone Cheol Jiseon could hold his ground against.

In the end, he had to keep his mouth shut.

“You’ve become silent in an instant. What a wimp. I wonder if you even have anything down there.”

“Who knows? It’s possible that he actually doesn’t have anything. Either that, or it’s tiny.”

“But he can probably live off of his handsome face, right? A male prostitute for example.”

Crack.

Cheol Jiseon clenched his fist tighter.

“Hey, but don’t you have an older sister?”

Pause.

Hearing someone mention his sister, Cheol Jiseon stopped trembling.

“Does your sister look like you? It’d be nice if she does. I want a lot of wives, you see. So, how about you introduce her to me?”

- Jiseon, you must not use that power.

Cheol Jiseon’s sister’s voice tickled his ears, but his hand moved instinctively.

It would be fine if he used it once, right?

“I’m someone who can change your life. And this is  a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, you know?”

Cheol Jiseon could hold himself if it was just about him, but when it came to his sister…

Just as Cheol Jiseon was about to stand up and make his move…

“Why is this bastard not responding aga- “

Slam–!

The bastard speaking in a gruff manner suddenly rolled on the floor and was sent flying along with an explosive sound.

Cheol Jiseon’s eyes opened wide.

The bastard leaned against the wall as his body began to tremble.

Splat–!

Blood spurted out his mouth and drenched the floor.

“Wha… What…”

When the bastard raised his head up, someone who he hadn’t come across before was standing there.

At the very least, he wasn’t in the same group as him.

“W-Who are you?”

He shouted angrily, but the person who had popped out of nowhere, threw a chair at him in response.

Crash!

“Agh!”

“What do you mean who am I? I’m a friend who happened to be passing by.”

After being hit by the chair, the bastard screamed once again.

The person who was responsible for throwing the chair was still standing calmly.

His fierce eyes then narrowed as he spoke.

His smile only made him look scarier.

Even Cheol Jiseon was shocked to see him.

It wasn’t someone he expected to see.

“Ugh, I came here to eat with a friend, but there’s A retard here as well.”

The person scratched his head nonchalantly.

His fierce face, and his disrespectful manner of speaking.

Cheol Jiseon recognized his face.

How could he not be?

After all, he was half for- …No, he was forced to become his friend.

And because they were put in different groups, Cheol Jiseon believed that he wouldn’t see him any longer and he was happy about it at the time.

Seeing that they were put in different groups, Cheol Jiseon thought that he gave up on bullying him.

Because of that, Cheol Jiseon only got more confused.

The person who came to save him from his current predicament…

…True Dragon?

Was none other than Gu Yangcheon.