"Keke. Curious, aren't you, kid?"
"What is it?"
"It's something you desperately need in order for you to survive this academy."
"Excuse me?"
"You've been severely injured during the Ma Fighting Academy's commencement day. Didn't you think about the fact that you might be at a serious disadvantage compared the other candidates now?"
Although West Grand Lord was the host of the entire academy today, being born into the Ma faction, there was once a time in his own life when Seop Maeng also was just a new cadet here in this academy. Even though each year the competition was run in different ways, the basic elements of the program remained the same.
"Granted you've hammered your way through the first round with just sheer willpower, but do you really think you'll have any chance of making it out of the second round without any inner power?"
"Well that..."
*Glug, glug*
"On top of that, all your rivals were born with a silver spoon in their mouth, meaning they've all had a huge head start over you. While your sorry butt gets stuck here in the dispensary for who knows how many weeks, the others will have made huge gains over you. If you really want to be a master in this world, you need to constantly get ahead of the others in the race, kid."
Seop Maeng knew like a fortune-teller the exact circumstances Cheon Yeo Woon found himself in. After all, he couldn't deny that there was real truth to everything he was saying. Additionally, although it was possible for him to receive full recovery through Nano in a matter of hours with a drop of a command, it was probably wiser for him to stay in the dispensary for a little while longer so that he wouldn't attract more suspicion from the other six clans.
"Do you know why that red-head sent you to this dispensary?"
"Red-head? You mean West Grand Lord?"
"Yeah, kid."
"Isn't it to treat me for my internal wounds?" Cheon Yeon Woon asked with an unsettled look on his face.
"Of course, if someone gets hurt you send him to the dispensary. But... don't you think it's a bit strange that you're the only one who's here, even though there were hundreds of others out there who were hurt just like you?
-Hey! Come to think of it, that's true.-
Like Seop Maeng said, besides Cheon Yeo Woon, almost half of all the contestants had either passed out or were reeling on the floor, and most, if not all, of the contestants had incurred the same serious injuries that he had. However, none of them were sent to the dispensary, save himself.
"Any master who has been under some degree of training can treat their internal injuries through rehabilitative meditation. Of course, with the help of a physician or medicine, one can supplement and expedite the recovery process."
"Which means...?"
"That's right. West Grand Lord knows that all the rest of the chumps can heal themselves through rehabilitative meditation, which is why none of them were sent here besides you."
"Oh!"
Cheon Yeo Woon finally understood what Seop Maeng was saying. Grand West Lord sent him to the dispensary because he confirmed that Cheon Yeo Woon was a complete amateur, which naturally meant that he didn't have the ability to rehabilitate himself like all the rest.
-Keke, time to seal the deal.-
After feeling confident that he won Cheon Yeo Woon over at this point, Seop Maeng decided to clinch the win.
"Do you think you'll leave this dispensary any time soon? You can't even rehabilitate yourself."
-Technically, I can…-
The truth was that with the help of Nano recovery any from severe trauma was possible for him, and that too in a matter of hours. But, this was top-secret information for Cheon Yeo Woon, so he couldn't share this with Seop Maeng.
East Grand Lord was right. In order to advance through the next stage, he needed to begin acquiring inner power.
-...oh shoot!-
He was just reminded of something.
"I was completely forgetting about it until now, but it is my understanding that after passing the first round all the contestants get to receive a manna orb and access to the first floor of the academy's library, right?"
On the first floor of the academy's library, which is considered the Ma faction's national treasure, were many, albeit low-level, sacred books and skill books.
"Puhahahaha!"
At Cheon Yeo Woon's statement, Seop Maeng leaned backwards and began to laugh.
At Seop Maeng's sudden burst of laughter, Cheon Yeo Woon raised his eyebrows in confoundment.
"I guess I can't blame him since me, being a lazy a bum and all, probably would've been just as terse and vague as he was about the whole thing, but man, the guy just left out something really important."
"What do you mean he left something out?"
"Just because you qualified to the next around doesn't mean you can go in and out of the academy library at will. Truth is, the door will always be open for everyone, but you only get to access it ONCE after each qualifying stage."
"Excuse me?"
This was a far cry from what he had initially believed.
"Keke, with all the priceless books that are stored in the library, did you really think that you could freely navigate the library, the so-called "national treasure," whenever you feel like?"
Because of the ubiquity of spy activities of the Jeong and Sa faction that are carried out within the Ma district, there was a high level of security on its national treasure.
Amused by Cheon Yeo Woon's naïve response, Seop Maeng continued the rhetoric:
"Furthermore, the allotted time you are given on the first floor of the library is exactly two hours. As you go up each floor, the time that is allowed there does increase commensurate to the time it takes to study and understand the contents within these higher-level books, but even so, you will barely have enough time to finish one book."
"There is a time limit in the library? Wow, that's really a damper."
"On top of all that, you are restricted from taking any notes. Whatever knowledge from that place you leave with needs to be saved in your head; there is no exception. Kekeke, if you can memorize two or three books, you will have done really well for yourself, since most people waste a good portion of their time leisurely looking for their books of interest.
As Seop Maeng mentioned, Yi Hwa Myeong left out a really crucial detail about the library access. If one went in the library ignorant of this fact, there was no doubt that they would waste most of their time looking through the voluminous shelves in search of the book they really want to read.
-Wait a minute. I have Nano on my side!-
Before completely falling into despair, he was reminded of Nano's awesome capability. Nano the nano machine had the ability to rapidly scan through any exhaustive book and instantly save all the information into its system. Moreover, he didn't even need to struggle to comprehend and memorize any of the material himself. Nano could simply just transfer all of it into his brain.
-This is a huge advantage for me!-
With two hours of time, she would be able to scan not just one or two, but possibly over a hundred books. The information given by Seop Maeng, meant to devastate Cheon Yeo Woon, ended up exciting him.
Ignorant to that fact, Seop Maeng thought to himself that the bait had been bitten and it was time to reel in the catch.
"Hence, a pipsqueak like you will have no chance of survival in this dog-eat-dog, four-year-long competition without the benevolent mentoring of someone like me."
All those in the Ma Fighting Academy entered having under their belt at least one fighting style mastered. Seop Maeng was simply reminding Cheon Yeo Woon of his extremely late start and how much help he would need to catch up.
After contemplating on his own for some time, Cheon Yeo Woon finally opened his mouth.
"The paper you left on the edge of the bed... is that a training formula for increasing inner power?"
-I simply offered the bait and you chomped down hard on it, didn't you? Keke!-
Although Seop Maeng was overjoyed at the thought that Cheon Yeo Woon fell for his lure, he tried hard not to show it.
"Keke, you're not so dumb after all. That's right, it is the secret instructions to my unique inner power training."
"How come you are giving this to me?"
"If you become my disciple, I will help you train your inner power right away."
Cheon Yeo Woon's eye lit up. He was finally given a chance to train his inner power, something that was kept from him his whole life because of the deceptive pledge he was forced to take by the six wives of the Grand Master.
After seeing genuine interest in Cheon Yeo Woon's eyes for the first time all day, Seop Maeng was convinced that he got the deal in the bag as he smiled with his yellow teeth hanging out.
-Does this person seriously want me as his disciple?-
Although from a glance he just looked like a village drunkard, in reality he was the great East Grand Lord. Cheon Yeo Woon's suspicion slowly gave way as he began to see that Seop Maeng genuinely took a liking on him and wanted to help him out.
-If so, I need to really get him on my side.-
Through his experience with Master Jang, he knew what encouragement and advantage it was to have even just one person out of a hundred enemies on his side.
With his pale and stiff body, Cheon Yeon hitched himself up from the bed and stood on his feet.
"Ho oh?"
Then in the presence of Seop Maeng, whose face lit up with anticipation, Cheon Yeo Woon proclaimed with a loud voice: "I will serve you, East Grand Lord, as my teacher. Please accept me as your disciple!"
As Cheon Yeo Woon got on his wobbly knees to prostrate himself, Seop Maeng felt overjoyed. In the world of martial arts, the greatest way for a disciple to show his deep respect for his teacher was to do a 'kowtow.' But, as Cheon Yeon Woon stooped lower to prostrate himself fully, Seop Maeng used his inner power to lift him back up.
"At ease. As a descendant of the Cheon lineage, the only person you will ever bow down to is the Grand Master."
That was one of the many codes within the organization. As much as Cheon Yeo Woon was nothing but a little pipsqueak and now a disciple under him, the East Grand Lord had zero intentions of breaking the code of law within the faction.
"Keke, hey disciple."
He definitely felt a little awkward saying that, but the deal was sealed. After laying Cheon Yeo Woon back down on the bed using his inner power again, he said his concluding remarks for the day.
"Hmm, hmm. Since you will have to get some rest today, why don't you take the piece of paper I gave you and try to memorize the basic principles of East Grand... no wait... of your teacher's special training regimen until I come back."
After those instructions, Seop Maeng left the dispensary with a big jolly smile on his face. When the door closed, Cheon Yeo Woon momentarily felt as though a giant hurricane had just come and gone. Still, he knew that the fact that he was able to procure a teacher for himself who was considered a top-level fighter within the faction was going to be a huge opportunity for Cheon Yeo Woon who knew nothing in his life but enemies.
Meanwhile back in the main training field, the contestants were in the process of receiving their group numbers. As the few remaining final group numbers were given, Cheon Moo Geum of Buk Ma clan, who was third in line to the Grand Master, began to put on a sinister smile.
-What a surprise. We are in the same group, it seems? Hehehe, you're dead, you filthy little worm.-