Brutal Training All Around (2)

"...!"

A master of any subject must have a backup plan should they fail, no matter who it is. This is especially true for martial artists, as if their plans go awry, they will need to have a way to teach their disciples from beyond the grave.

But that is a tricky task, as writing down the martial arts you wish to pass on without a way to hide them from all but your students is challenging at worst.

Martial artists are clever by nature, so you have to be cleverer if you want only your disciples to receive your teachings. This is where spoken clues come in, hidden phrases that normally don't mean anything used to tell someone a location on where to find the next step of their training, or hidden letters that are set to appear after one's death.

And with me being the sole target of the Namgung clan, if I were to sacrifice myself to them, they'd leave the rest of my disciples alone. My death would be the turning point in a small war, that would end in the destruction of Zhongyuan.

But if my martial arts were to be passed on, the war would not end with my death. This is why I left the manual instructing how to perform my Silver Breath arts at a place only two people outside of myself and the dead would know about.

But that location doesn't matter right now, the cultists resting time would soon be over, so the next portion of training could soon begin.

"Pyo Yong, that bit doesn't matter for now. If we train the cultists well enough they can be used as a force to bring down the Namgung clan, put your fullest into training them."

"R-right, we should move now though Master, it would be rude to make them wait."

"Of course." I replied, leaping into the air and pushing myself forward using tree branches as platforms.

A few moments later we arrived on top of the cult leader's building, where Pyo Kang was already waiting for us. Just like four hours ago, the plaza was filled to the brim with cultists. However, instead of groans of confusion, they had turned to moans of pain.

"Is everyone gathered Pyo Kang?"

"Yes, Master."

"Good." I replied, turning around to face him and Pyo Yong. "Have the both of you thought of a suitable training plan for your half of the cult?"

Pyo Kang gave a simple nod of his head as confirmation, whilst Pyo Yong nervously shook his hand, showing he only had a rough idea as to how to train them.

"Pyo Kang, since you know what you're doing, you may go wait in front of the cultists for us. I will help your brother out slightly."

"Understood." Pyo Kang replied, swiftly leaping off the roof and landing in front of the cultists.

"Pyo Yong, do you remember how I trained you two in the forest?"

"Yeah... I remember that." Pyo Yong replied with a shiver, remembering those days was like revisiting a nightmare.

"Then you already know what to do, when one master knows not how to proceed, how do they learn to get over the hurdle they in front of?"

"They turn to the master that taught them..." Pyo Yong replied in confusion, but my words meaning struck him a moment later. "Ohhh! Thank you, Master." He replied with a bow.

"You're welcome, now come. We have some sissy cultists to train." I said before leaping off the roof and landing next to Pyo Kang.

It seems like Pyo Kang had already gotten the cultists to hold their words, as not even a murmur could be heard in the plaza when I arrived.

A second later Pyo Yong landed behind me, finally the next training exercise could begin.

I drew the dragon horn blade from its scabbard on my back and threw it into the ground that separated the crowd of cultists from me, Pyo Kang and Pyo Yong.

"First, the executives of the cult, step away from the crowd and stand in front of that blade."

Twelve men and one woman stepped out from the crowd of cultists, each of them looking as if they would drop dead where they stood. However, they still pressed on as this cult needed them, a minute later they would each be standing in front of the dragon horn blade.

"Good, now the rest of you. Make way for the blade."

I raised what little internal energy I had left and used it to drag the dragon horn blade across the plaza, forming a line that separated one side of the plaza from the other.

The cultists scurried away from the blade as it dragged through the plaza floor, separating close to half the cult from the other half. After the line had been made, I raised the blade out of the ground with my energy and returned it to my hand, leaving me with nearly no internal energy left to use without damaging my cultivation level.

"The half of you on my right, you will be personally trained by Pyo Kang, those of you on my left will be personally trained by Pyo Yong. If you have questions, you report to whomever is training you."

Pyo Kang and Pyo Yong jumped out from behind me and landed on their respective halves, staring into each other's eyes whilst one of the cult executives asked a question.

"Leader, what will the executives be doing while they train?"

"That's a very good question, what happens to be your name?"

"Seong Chul, sir."

"Well, Seong Chul. You and the rest of the executives will be training under me. And for asking such a moronic question in my presence, you have just earned the entire group double the training you would have received today. Baek Il and the others, you may thank him later."

A furious glare emerged from the other twelve executives as they stared down Seong Chul. Quite an uproar would occur once the training was over, I'd be best if I watched from afar, I don't want my presence interfering with some good entertainment after all.

I quickly slid the dragon horn blade back into its scabbard on my back and turned to walk towards the cult leader building.

"Pyo Kang, Pyo Yong! Let the training commence, you will have two hours! Cult executives, come with me, your special training will take place in the forest behind the cult leader building. Anyone who doesn't make it to the forest before me will have their training doubled again."

Not even a second passed before all thirteen executives dashed past me and toward the forest behind the cult leader building. Their legs were still aching from the running they had taken part in earlier, but their desire not to have extra training trumped the pain their legs were in.