The incident quickly began to calm down. Things could have gone out of control, but no one was injured in the process. Machil was also safe although he was thrown with his neck as Hou Jinchang had grabbed him and did not fight back the energy that pushed him back.
‘They are now coming after me in public.’
It was the first time that the six clans had come after him even if it was going against the rules of the cult, and it wasn’t done quietly either. They attacked in front of everyone, especially in front of Left Guardian Lee Hameng who was the trusted advisor to the Lord. Even if the attackers succeeded in killing themselves, this situation was bad enough that the Lord would have every reason to oppress the six clans even further.
‘Was this done on purpose?’
Yeowun didn’t feel good as he thought about it. If Submeng and the Guardian Army were on standby, then it was likely that they expected this from happening.
‘…He used me. So, am I just a pawn to his game?’
Yeowun had lost all hope for the Lord for caring about his son. He then realized that the Lord didn’t even attend Lady Hwa’s funeral.
‘Maybe he didn’t love my mother at all.’
Lady Hwa believed that the Lord loved her even when she was on her death bed. Yeowun didn’t want to go against her beliefs, so he held his suspicion back.
‘Dammit!’
If the Lord really loved her, then would he have left her to die from being poisoned? Couldn’t he protect her and her son Yeowun with the power he had? The suspicion and distrust only grew larger.
‘If that is true…’
If the Lord really used him and his mother as a political pawns against the six clans, then Yeowun couldn’t forgive him.
‘I will make you regret it.’
As Yeowun was furious at the Lord, Left Guardian Lee Hameng was also thinking about what just happened.
‘It is as he wished. This will let us suppress the Sword Clan.’
The clan responsible for managing the cult’s prison was the Giant Martial Sword Clan. This was one of the hidden connections of the Sword Clan. With their connection to the forbidden Art of Blood Reversion, it was going to damage the Sword Clan.
‘So, it’s not the three clans.’
The Sword Clan wasn’t the first to be put down. The first was the Lust Clan, as their leader Hang Soyu had gone too far with the first test. She was sentenced to banned from every important task and to lay low for the rest of the year. The leader of Poison Clan, Baek Oh, had broken one of the rules of the academy and had given a poisonous orb to Chun Yeowun, so he was sent to prison for two years. Baek Oh refused to admit to the charges, but since Yeowun’s clothes were covered in blood, that was irrefutable evidence. All of these events were tied to Yeowun.
‘To create such a result by using his own child.’
The Lord seemed to be very cold, even for Lee Hameng who was the most loyal and trusted advisor to the Lord. Whatever the case, three clans had gone down after these incidents. But there was one thing that Hameng was curious about.
‘They were caught too easily.’
The Lord had laid a trap so they that they would take the bait, but it was too easy. Chun Yeowun was doing well in the competition, which might have made them concerned, but it seemed weird for the Sword Clan to go this far and risk everything at once. It was apparent that this kind of behavior would lead them to the Sword Clan, so it didn’t make sense. It almost felt like the time when Lady Hwa was poisoned.
‘I hope it’s nothing.’
After things were cleaned up, Lee Hameng got back up onto the stage to proceed with the third test.
“We had a problem there, but we’ll continue with the test with the previous test method.”
All the cadets were curious as to what just happened, but since Lee Hameng did not go into the details, there was no use. Chun Yeowun’s group was able to pass the test altogether since they did manage to form a perfect sword formation, even if it was countered by a more powerful enemy. Every cadet agreed that the formation was perfect, so there were no objections.
‘Ah… so we were the last unlucky group.’
Hu Bong sighed. He was happy that all the members passed, but he and the members from Yeowun’s group were dumbfounded. Nine groups had risked their lives to take the dangerous test, but now the remaining groups were only required to defeat the instructors without risking their lives. Fortunately, four out of the remaining seven groups consisted of Yeowun’s members.
“Whoaaaa!”
The remaining cadets shouted in joy, but that didn’t last too long.
“Oh? I guess I should fight you guys like a real fight then.”
That shout of joy irritated the instructors and the remaining seven groups had to suffer from passing the test. The instructors knew very well about the formations already, so they weren’t easy like criminals from the Force of Justice.
The third test ended just before dinner time. The life-threatening situation had disappeared, but the remaining seven groups were evaluated with more strict rules.
Only 120 cadets passed the third test.
’34 out of 72…’
Half of Yeowun’s members had failed. He accepted his members out of loyalty, not out of power. So those who were weak couldn’t pass the test. However, it was also good that Yeowun still had thirty-four members with him who passed such a hard test. As for Chun Mukeum and Chun Kungwun, they lost over half of their members. For Chun Yuchan, he tried his hardest to pass the test, but he couldn’t do it sufficiently as the time was too short for him to get used to the Seven Demon sword with his left hand.
Lee Hameng spoke to the cadets above the stage.
“Congratulation to every cadet who passed the third test. You are now the high-ranked warriors of our cult.”
“Mado!”
All the cadets who passed the third test were given medals with a single engraving that proved they were high-ranked warriors. They were also given the third Black Dragon Ball.
“Ohhh!”
Hu Bong, who had been ranting all along about the unfairness of the test, was now happy with the box that contained the Black Dragon Ball. Starting with the third test, the rewards given to those who passed were now quite significant. First, they were allowed to access the third floor of the library. It was the floor where top-class martial artbooks were located. It was the moment that members of weaker clans had been waiting for waited so long. And, there was one more.
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