WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME NOVELS

Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ The Former Supreme ◈

Chapter 44: Daily Instructor (1)

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The next day, Baek Socheon arrived at the Special Mechanism Training Ground.

One only had to visit the place to understand why it was called special. It also showed firsthand just how advanced the Murim Alliance's mechanism formation arts had become.

The mechanisms themselves were impressively refined, but what truly made this training ground special was that its difficulty could be adjusted.

Martial artists from the Internal Affairs Unit and Support Unit, whose martial arts were comparatively weaker, could train here alongside the highly skilled martial artists of the Secret Pavilion and Iron Sword Corps.

This was a practical combat training ground. There was no holding back. Attacks more dangerous than those encountered in actual combat came flying in, and people could be injured or even die here. Every year, several people did die during training.

There were five difficulty levels: Low, Medium, Upper-Medium, High, and Supreme. Medium had been divided into two levels because that skill range had the most martial artists.

Iron Sword Corps martial artists usually trained at High difficulty, while Secret Pavilion martial artists trained at Supreme difficulty. They took great pride in being able to train at those levels.

Today, all five of the Iron Sword Corps' seven units, excluding the two currently out on operations, had gathered here.

When Baek Socheon appeared, everyone's attention turned to him.

He looked over the gathered martial artists for a moment.

Hwang Ilbi, the First Unit Commander, was there, as was Noh Ung, the Third Squad Leader. Most of the others were people Baek Socheon knew as well.

Baek Socheon had served in the Iron Sword Corps before moving to the Secret Pavilion, then returned to the Iron Sword Corps. Of all his years in the Murim Alliance, he had spent the most time here.

"Have you all been well?"

"Yes!"

A thunderous response came back.

The atmosphere was not bad. Everyone had their own thoughts about Baek Socheon, but no one held any major complaints or lingering resentment toward him.

Baek Socheon had caused several incidents, but most involved disobeying orders or voicing dissatisfaction with his superiors. He had never once mistreated his subordinates.

Of course, some disapproved of Baek Socheon's recent wandering. Still, they had once respected him and regarded him as a hero. Those conflicting feelings had settled somewhere in the middle.

"With the Corps Commander's permission, I've come to serve as your daily instructor today."

"Welcome!"

Another booming response erupted.

"All right, let's begin."

Mechanism training consisted of two stages: horizontal training first, then vertical training.

The first stage, horizontal training, involved passing through a corridor filled with flying hidden weapons. One had to advance while avoiding hidden weapons raining in from every direction.

The second stage, vertical training, required climbing upward while hidden weapons poured down. It was harder than the first exercise, but such situations occurred more often in actual combat. Enemies usually lay in ambush on high ground and attacked from above.

Baek Socheon then said something unexpected.

"I'll demonstrate."

Everyone was startled. No one had expected Baek Socheon to demonstrate. They believed this training ground could never be cleared without internal energy.

Hwang Ilbi immediately stepped forward.

"You can't!"

Choong Yang often scolded him for taking Baek Socheon's side whenever he had the chance, so Hwang Ilbi avoided stepping in unless it was truly necessary.

But this concerned Baek Socheon's life. Even he could die here if he let his guard down.

"Why? Are you afraid I'll die here?"

Hwang Ilbi could not bring himself to say yes.

"You cannot pass without internal energy."

"I can do it without it."

Baek Socheon turned to the martial artist managing the mechanisms.

"Please prepare it."

"What difficulty would you like?"

"Set it as usual."

"The Iron Sword Corps trains at High difficulty. Are you sure?"

The manager asked worriedly. They also knew Baek Socheon had lost his internal energy.

"It's fine."

At that moment, someone spoke up.

"Since you're here, how about demonstrating at Supreme difficulty?"

The speaker was Cheon Su, the Sixth Unit Commander.

Baek Socheon looked at him. Cheon Su was trying to remain calm, but his expression was subtly stiff.

Baek Socheon had never held any particular grudge against Cheon Su. He was a blunt man, but he had always seemed to follow Baek Socheon well. Baek Socheon remembered how Cheon Su had always been the first to act on his orders, and how a single word of praise would bring an ill-fitting smile to that stern face.

That made the reason simple. Choong Yang must have instructed him to do it.

"Fine."

Baek Socheon agreed readily, and everyone grew restless. Supreme was a difficulty level even they could not clear. Secret Pavilion martial artists skipped the training if they were not feeling well that day.

"Sixth Unit Commander!"

Hwang Ilbi angrily rebuked Cheon Su, who had joined the corps two years after him.

"How can you say something so absurd to someone who has not even recovered from his injuries?"

He had been trying to stop Baek Socheon from demonstrating at High difficulty, yet now Cheon Su was suggesting Supreme? It was no different from telling Baek Socheon to die.

"I only made a suggestion."

"Even a suggestion requires thought."

"If the instructor considered it too much, he would have refused."

"You bastard! What do you think you're doing?"

"Watch your words!"

The two faced off tensely.

Then Baek Socheon stepped in and said gently, "I'm fine. Unit Commander Cheon is right. If I don't think I can do it, I should say so myself."

Hwang Ilbi asked anxiously, "Are you truly all right?"

Everyone looked at Baek Socheon with similar concern in their eyes.

"Do you know why I accepted this position as a special instructor today?"

"No, sir."

"I didn't come to see familiar faces, nor did I come to show off that I'm still doing well."

"Then why did you come?"

"Because I want to help you as an instructor."

Everyone was surprised again. They had all taken today's event to be little more than part of the political conflict between Baek Socheon and Choong Yang. No one had expected Baek Socheon to come here with the genuine intention of serving as an instructor.

Baek Socheon spoke seriously, as though every word came from his heart.

"As you've already experienced, when war breaks out, you'll be the ones fighting the most dangerous and important battles. I hope today's training can help you survive, even a little. Yes, seeing how to handle Supreme difficulty should be useful as well."

Baek Socheon addressed the training gate instructor.

"Set the difficulty to Supreme."

"Understood."

Amid the tension, the difficulty was set to Supreme.

Baek Socheon took a training sword and several training daggers from a rack beside him, then stood at the mechanism's entrance. From his days in the Iron Sword Corps through his time in the Secret Pavilion, Baek Socheon had trained here many times. He had once been able to pass through the place with his eyes closed.

He was still confident. The grueling physical training he had undergone, combined with the wondrous movement technique of the Heaven-Turning Nine Fists, would make up for the absence of internal energy. He could do this.

"Beginning now!"

At the gate instructor's shout, Baek Socheon immediately sprang inside.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Hidden weapons flew in from both sides. The opening attack was no gentle test. The fast, threatening strikes targeted the entrant's vital acupoints.

A nearby martial artist flinched just watching them.

Clang! Clang!

Baek Socheon deflected the hidden weapons and took a step forward.

Brief exclamations escaped the onlookers. It was not simply because Baek Socheon had knocked the weapons away.

The hidden weapons had flown in from both sides at the same speed, and his movements seemed to demonstrate the proper way to handle them.

By shifting to the left, he made the weapon from that side arrive first, then deflected the left and right attacks in succession.

Clang! Clang!

The same went for the three daggers that followed. His technique showed exactly how handling three weapons differed from handling two.

He dodged one and deflected two. Baek Socheon's movements flowed as naturally as water, making it clear which weapon had to be avoided and why.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The hidden weapons became more varied, and their numbers steadily increased.

Baek Socheon's movements looked like those of someone with internal energy. He was swift, precise, and controlled.

More than anything, he was fulfilling the role of instructor perfectly. Unlike other organizations, the Iron Sword Corps rotated its Squad Leaders and Unit Commanders through instructor duties.

Yet Baek Socheon gave a better demonstration than any of them.

He knocked weapons aside with his sword, evaded them with footwork, and even threw daggers to preemptively block incoming attacks.

The martial artist managing the mechanisms suddenly had a thought.

If this scene could be preserved, they wanted to show it to every martial artist who came here. This was the proper method for passing through the mechanisms.

The final attack consisted of nine hidden weapons.

Whooshwhooshwhooshwhooshwhooshwhooshwhooshwhooshwhoosh!

They came in a flood. It was the kind of attack that made one despair, certain they would only manage to deflect three or four before being forced to take the rest with their body.

Baek Socheon's figure moved with incredible speed.

He deflected attacks with his sword, threw daggers with his other hand, dodged what he could not deflect, and even used deflected weapons to knock away other weapons. It was a defense that encompassed every technique available to him.

Everyone first felt the same amazement.

Ah, so that can be done!

Then came the desire to do it themselves.

Baek Socheon handled all nine hidden weapons and passed through the gate safely.

Everyone stared at him blankly, too stunned to speak.

Hwang Ilbi broke the silence.

"Have you really lost your internal energy?"

"Actually, I haven't. I've been deceiving all of you."

Everyone swallowed hard at those words.

"I wish I could say that."

It should have been a moment for laughter, but the training ground remained quiet. They truly wondered whether he had been deceiving them. The joke did not even register.

"Judging by your reactions, I suppose my training wasn't for nothing. You may not know this, but for the last three years, I worked myself to death. When things become unbearably difficult, you start wishing the situation will change. But things only got worse, never better. So I tried to change myself instead. I trained every night where no one could see, afraid I would show everyone the miserable sight of trying my hardest and still failing."

Baek Socheon did not deliberately conceal his abilities before the Iron Sword Corps martial artists, nor did he boast about them. He spoke honestly, from the heart.

Just as he meant something to them, they meant something to him. They had once been subordinates as precious to him as his own life.

"Don't get hurt. The days I spent recovering were truly like hell."

Everyone knew how much effort it took to move as he had. He had not avoided attacks better because he had once been the greatest martial artist under heaven. It was solely the result of relentless effort spent training his body.

They looked at Baek Socheon in silence. Even those who had not liked him felt respect, at least in that moment, for his efforts.

"All right, the demonstration is over. Training begins now."

Baek Socheon lowered the difficulty to High. He did not seek childish revenge by telling Cheon Su that, since he had demonstrated, Cheon Su should now pass through Supreme difficulty as well. Nor did he give the slightly uncomfortable Cheon Su any special look.

Baek Socheon understood him because he had guessed Cheon Su had acted under Choong Yang's orders. It was not as though Cheon Su wanted to do it. He had simply been following an order.

The Iron Sword Corps martial artists had seen all manner of hardship. Baek Socheon believed they each had their own thoughts and judgment as well.

"All right, First Unit, First Squad goes first. If you don't keep your wits about you, you'll die! Begin!"

The martial artists of the First Unit started passing through the mechanisms.

Baek Socheon shouted encouragement at them like a true instructor.

"Stay alert!"

"Watch the hidden weapons properly!"

"Your hands and feet are too slow. Move faster!"

With so many people, someone was bound to make a mistake.

"Watch out!"

Just as an incoming hidden weapon was about to strike an Iron Sword Corps martial artist, Baek Socheon threw a training dagger and knocked it away.

"Focus!"

Without even having time to thank him, the martial artist deflected the remaining weapons and continued forward.

In that manner, all the martial artists passed through the first mechanism. There were several close calls, and whenever things became truly dangerous, Baek Socheon intervened to prevent injuries.

Once the first horizontal training gate ended, Baek Socheon stood before them.

"You all did well."

At least within this training ground, it felt as though they were seeing Baek Socheon in his prime again.

It was not the greatness one felt from internal energy or force of presence. Nor was it only because of the astonishing demonstration he had just given.

The heat beginning to fill the training ground came from change. It came from the change in Baek Socheon, who had returned to a serious demeanor after his incidents and wandering.

Choong Yang had intended to use today's training to prove that Baek Socheon had become washed up.

But things were unfolding in the complete opposite direction.

Baek Socheon spoke to the martial artist in charge of the mechanisms.

"Let's proceed to the second, vertical training."

The manager activated the mechanisms.

Rumble.

The walls on every side rose high, and the training ground began to transform.

Footnotes:

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