Chapter 1113: Can I Do Well? (Part 3)

"Straighten up, won't you?"

"Kkeueeuuung…."

"Kkeueuup…."

Chung Myung glanced at the hundreds of people with their heads slammed into the ground, rocks piled up around them. His sharp, piercing gaze stabbed mercilessly into the backs of the members of the Heavenly Comrade Alliance.

"I did something considerate and gave you guys a break! But you couldn't stand it anymore and started picking fights again?"

"…."

"Is this a protest against me? You were dying from having leftover energy, so you rebelled just because I let you rest for no reason, right? What?"

At that moment, Jo Gol, who had been banging his head on the ground, stood up abruptly and raised his hand.

"What?"

"It seems there's a misunderstanding. We didn't fight because we had leftover energy."

"Then?"

Jo Gol shrugged.

"We really had no strength, but when people got too annoying, it somehow gave us strength."

"Ah."

"Isn't it fascinating? Haha."

Chung Myung nodded as if understanding.

"I think I get it, Sahyung."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I feel exactly like that right now, you bastard!"

Chung Myung's foot kicked off the ground and planted on Jo Gol's face.

"Ahh!"

As Jo Gol tumbled on the floor, Chung Myung climbed onto his stomach. In an instant, Chung Myung's upper body swayed energetically from side to side.

"Die! Die! Please just die!"

"Ah! Evil! Ah! Spare… spare…."

"Die! You bastard! Die!"

Jo Gol fought with the Tang Family during the day, got beaten up here and there in the restaurant in the evening, and was now happily getting pummeled by Chung Myung, but unfortunately, no one here sympathized with him.

'He deserves to be beaten.'

'Honestly, there's nothing to say even if he dies.'

'Chung Myung Dojang is a true Taoist for having kept him alive until now.'

It was a meaningful moment in which the four chaotic sects suddenly became one.

"Hooo! Hooo! Hooo! Hooo!"

Chung Myung stood up, leaving Jo Gol lying there miserably, glaring at the others with his gleaming eyes.

Everyone quickly closed their eyes and averted their gaze from Chung Myung. If their eyes met, they might end up in the same state as Jo Gol.

"I... Uh, yeah. I... I was a bit short-sighted."

"…."

"With everyone having such good stamina and vitality. I was worried for nothing."

Everyone here realized that even a person's voice could be captivating. It was a very different experience, yet at the same time, a frightening one.

"It's all my fault! All!"

"…."

"If I knew everyone had such good stamina and enthusiasm, I would have raised the intensity of training earlier. Huh? I didn't know you all had so much energy left after finishing your training to the point of fighting!"

"Wait a moment, Chung Myung!"

Baek Cheon looked up in shock, but it was already too late.

"People!"

Chung Myung stomped the ground and shouted.

"Shouldn't repeat the same mistakes. Well, whatever. Let's try this, you bastards. Either you die or I die! First, try not sleeping for three days... … ."

"I-If you do that, you'll die!"

"I'm telling you to die, you jerk!"

With a flipped gaze, Chung Myung charged towards Baek Cheon this time.

The training ground turned into chaos in an instant. Hyun Jong, watching the scene from a distance, covered his face with both hands. A desperate sigh escaped him.

'How...'

How could it be that nothing had changed after going from Mount Hua to the Heavenly Comrade Alliance? How...

Oh gods above...

* * *

"It will die..."

"I'm already dead."

"S-Soso-ya. I think my back is broken."

"...There's a needle over there, so just stab it somewhere suitable..."

Moans of agony escaped the lips of Mount Hua's disciples scattered on the floor.

The places where they were hit while fighting the Tang Family were painful, and the areas they rolled over while fighting aimlessly afterward were sore. However, the most excruciating were the waist and knees tortured by Chung Myung's rampage.

No, how could a place that was rolled over on the ground be more painful than the spots hit during a fight with the Tang Family? By this point, Chung Myung's rolling could be considered an art form.

"...Who told Chung Myung?"

"It was Baek-ah, right? I saw him running towards the door shortly after the fight."

"That filthy weasel... betraying his Sahyungs...."

"Ugh...."

While Tang Soso was seething in anger, Baek Cheon struggled to sit on the chair.

"I'm going to die...."

Baek Cheon, who was exceptionally skilled in maintaining clean attire, now looked like a mess with sweat and dirt smeared all over. Washing up seemed like an impossible task given his current level of exhaustion.

Jo Gol grumbled.

"Ugh, those Tang Family bastards with their useless talk...."

"For the love of... shut up, you bastard!"

"Ow!"

Yoon Jong slapped Jo Gol without mercy. In the end, wasn't this whole situation unnecessarily blown out of proportion because of that idiot

"In terms of temperament, just...."

As Yoon Jong was about to retort, Baek Cheon restrained him.

"Enough, Yoon Jong-ah. It's not just Jo Gol's fault... No, it's that bastard's fault. Yeah, he's completely at fault. Even though that bastard is undeniably the root cause of everything, he's not the only one at fault."

"...Your words are contradicting themselves, Sasuk."

"Ugh."

Baek Cheon sighed deeply and composed himself.

"The problem is that we got angry too easily."

"...Actually, we did say some provoking words over there."

"That's true."

There was nothing more upsetting to someone than being told they lost and tolerating it.

Baek Cheon, with a cool tongue, looked at everyone with a slightly different attitude.

"And it's not just that."

Baek Cheon's gaze turned to Tang Soso.

"Soso."

"Yes, Sasuk."

"What do you think? About what Tang Family said over there."

"What are you talking about?"

"That... the words they used about poisoning. They said if they had used poison properly, none of us would have survived."

"Oh, that?"

Tang Soso nodded calmly.

"Yes. Our oraboni did cross the line quite a bit. It shouldn't have been said. In the future, just ignore me and beat him up as much as you want."

"Well, it's not about that."

"What?"

Looking at Tang Soso, who seemed to be questioning what she had done wrong, Baek Cheon broke out in a cold sweat.

"I'm asking what you think would have happened if the Tang Family had really used poison properly."

"Ah... that?"

Tang Soso frowned slightly.

"Well, if you think about it, the Sahyungs didn't do things properly either. The essence of the Mount Hua Swordsmanship... although it's a bit difficult to put into words, it's in the killing sword technique, but we can't use that in sparring."

"That's true."

"However, if the situation had escalated to that extent, the Tang Family would have unleashed their most potent poisons and strictly forbidden hidden weapons…"

Tang Soso pondered, her chin in her hand.

"Well, this is a bit tricky…"

Seeing that she hesitated to answer, Baek Cheon nodded as if guessing.

"The Tang Family would have won."

"Oh, no. It's not necessarily like that."

"No, I thought the same."

At this, Jo Gol snapped.

"What are you talking about, Sasuk! We wouldn't lose! That wouldn't happen."

"Listen to my words until the end."

"Yes?"

Baek Cheon sighed and continued.

"If we were to face Tang Family for the first time, we would be defeated. We are not familiar with poison or hidden weapons. Have we ever faced opponents who fight like the Tang Family?"

"Well, that's true, but…"

"We know the Tang Family to a certain extent. Or rather, we were proud of knowing them. But that's Tang Family as comrades, not as enemies."

"..."

"Even though we, with the Self-Cultivation pills, could withstand poison to some extent, many fell in the initial surprise attack. This means that without preparation, we could be vulnerable even if we think we are not."

Jo Gol, who was the first to be poisoned and incapacitated during the battle, silently closed his mouth. There was no room for excuses.

"If we suddenly encounter the Tang Family as enemies on the battlefield, do you really think we could have demonstrated our skills properly? We might have suffered even greater losses."

"Ugh."

Jo Gol, lost for words to counter, made a groaning sound.

"Then, are we weaker than the Tang Family at this point? Even though their elders haven't participated?"

"It's a bit different in meaning."

"Yes?"

"In the first clash, we might be defeated, but if we fight twice, it will improve, and if we fight ten times, we are confident in victory. That is if the Tang Family doesn't progress and remains the same from start to finish."

Yoon Jong nodded.

"I understand what you mean."

Defeat comes from not knowing the opponent. But if you become familiar with the opponent, you can face them competently.

At that moment, Yoo Iseol, who had been silently listening, extended her hand, palm open, making everyone look at her in surprise.

"Five times."

"..."

"Five times should be enough."

A smile appeared on Baek Cheon's lips.

"If the Samae says so, five times should be sufficient."

At these words, Tang Soso's expression became complex and strangely subtle. Adapting easily to the poisonous and hidden techniques of the Tang Family sounded like a bluff, but on the other hand, it didn't sound entirely wrong either.

"As everyone knows, Chung Myung... that rotten devil, that good-for-nothing who can't even be used as firewood, that damn ghost crawling up from hell..."

"Please calm down, Tang Soso."

"Ahem, okay. Anyway, there was nothing meaningless in the training he arranged. It probably isn't just to fight and determine the ranking. Surely, it's meant for us to experience the Tang Family's poison and hidden techniques."

"... And it's a melee."

"Yes, melee warfare. And... it probably means experiencing clashes that occur when various sects are mixed together."

Baek Cheon concluded with a meaningful tone.

"Soon, we'll have to experience that in a more intense form."

At his words, the expressions of the Mount Hua disciples, who instinctively recalled the faces of Evil Tyrant Alliance and Jang Ilso, became more serious. At that moment, Jo Gol spoke.

"No, aren't you thinking too positively? Given that bastard's personality, couldn't he just be twisting our stomachs and tormenting us?"

"…."

"He didn't have to give any annoying instructions, so it must have been convenient for everyone to die."

Everyone turned to look at him.

Then Jo Gol made a reflexive expression of injustice.

"Are you going to say I'm wrong again?"

"....No. It's convincing."

"Very convincing."

"Actually, my feelings are closer to that side."

A collective sigh escaped from everyone's mouths, as if making a promise.

Of course, it was impossible based on common sense, but wouldn't it be more strange to hope for common sense from a guy who charged at Jang Ilso and Shaolin's sect leader just because he was being treated badly?

"Well, anyway…."

Baek Cheon cleared his throat and tried to salvage the situation somehow.

"Since the training we need to do from now on is clear, we should prepare..."

"From now on?"

"Huh?"

Jo Gol twisted his face as if he couldn't understand.

"Are you saying you'll continue this in the future?"

"…."

"This crazy thing?"

"…I agree it's crazy, but don't you need experience to face the Evil Tyrant Alliance?"

"Evil Tyrant Alliance? Evil Tyrant Alliance?"

Jo Gol seemed utterly confused.

"No, Tang Soso. If we continue this nonsense, the Heavenly Comrade Alliance might collapse from infighting before facing the Evil Tyrant Alliance, don't you think?"

"…."

"Just two days ago, the Tang Family was our ally. But now?"

"Damn scoundrels."

"Cowardly bastards."

"Sichuan villagers."

"I'll kill them!"

Jo Gol snorted.

"Look at this. I guarantee that in a few more days, we'll draw our swords just by making eye contact. And if that Nokrim King and the easily offended Namgung Sogaju get involved, the color of the Yangtze River will turn red in no time, don't you think?"

"…."

"The Heavenly Comrade Alliance is finished now. There's no more dreams or hopes."

Gol-ah, you keep saying things that strangely make sense today.

It's a truly fascinating day...