The morning sun had just peeked through the gap in the mountains, but Instructor Ma was already standing frozen on the balcony of his room overlooking the training field. His breath caught as he saw dozens of Class 1 and Class 2 students looking exhausted and listless like the rubble of a recently demolished building in the breakfast dining hall.
The stench of sweat, dust, and the putrid "residue" from Class 2's meridian cleansing still hung in the air.
"Crazy... this is absolutely insane,"
Ma said, gripping his staff tightly. As a veteran, he knew the difference between ordinary fatigue and extreme suffering. The students weren't just tired; their muscles were trembling in a pattern that indicated they had just been forced to undergo an instant physical adaptation.
The sound of steady, heavy footsteps came from the wooden stairs. Yoe Choin, in the form of Moen Kang Yo, stepped inside without knocking, followed by Gwi-Hyuk, who stood like a shadowy pillar behind him.
"Instructor Ma,"
Choin called in a calm, baritone voice that demanded his full attention.
"What do you think of our 'materials' this morning? Do they look like steel yet, or do they still look like rotting wood?"
Ma turned, glaring at Choin.
"You nearly killed them, Young Master. If this continues, in three days they will all be permanently disabled."
"Disabled or transformed, that depends on how we manage their recovery,"
Choin replied, pulling out a chair and sitting down casually, as if in a project coordination meeting.
"But before that, we have a more pressing matter to discuss. It's about Elder Gong."
The atmosphere in the room suddenly grew very cold. Choin leaned forward, his glowing blue eyes locking with Ma's.
"Tell me, Instructor. What is your position in this sect's structure?"
Choin asked matter-of-factly.
"Are you under that corrupt leader, or do you still hold true to your oath of loyalty to the true Moen lineage?"
Ma was silent for a long moment. The scar on his arm throbbed.
"Elder Gong is the one who controls the sect's budget. Without him, we couldn't even feed the disciples."
"That means you're only afraid of him because he holds the purse strings here,"
Choin interrupted coldly.
"Listen, Ma. My plan isn't just revenge. I'm going to unite everyone, from students like Jin-Pyo, to the promising Year 1 students, to the top experts. I'm going to get them all on one side before I forcefully dismantle that rotten Gong rule."
Ma stared at Choin in disbelief. The passion radiating from the "bastard son" he once hated now felt like a far more solid foundation than anything Gong had ever built.
"I need your advice, Ma,"
Choin continued.
"What's the quickest way to improve the disciples' cultivation skills without destroying their physical bodies? And I'd like to see the complete archive of the 24 Demonic Heavy Sword techniques. I know you have them."
Ma took a deep breath and walked to an old bookshelf hidden behind a faded painting. He pressed a mechanical button, and a small drawer opened.
"For sword techniques, this is the original manual,"
Ma handed over a dusty, old leather scroll.
"And regarding power enhancement..."
He took out a small wooden box that exuded a strong medicinal aroma. Inside was a dark purple pill surrounded by a faint vapor.
"This is the Eternal Night Essence Pill,"
Ma whispered.
"This pill functions to expand the qi capacity in the meridians and instantly compress Qi energy to the next level. There's only one left in the sect. Elder Gong has been searching for it for years, but I hid it because I didn't want this sacred pill to fall into the hands of someone like him."
Choin took the box, examining the pill with the logic of a foreman.
"Take that, Foreman! With that pill, we can jump straight to the Internal Finishing stage!"
The real Moen Kang Yo's voice screamed with lust within.
"Patience, Boss,"
Choin replied quietly.
"A building can't be immediately fitted with a luxurious roof if the structure is still wet."
Choin closed the box again and tucked it away under his robe.
"Thank you, Ma'am. I'll keep it, but not for now. I want to train these students' physiques and my own with the method I've created. We need pure structural density before injecting the accelerator."
Choin stood up and walked toward the door. Before leaving, he paused.
"Ma'am, starting tomorrow, prepare a report on who in Class 2 is closest to Elder Gong. I need complete data to map the enemy's 'burden points' within our own home."
Ma nodded, this time with genuine respect.
"I'll prepare it, Young Master."
As Choin and Gwi-Hyuk stepped out into the dark hallway, Yoe Choin stopped in his tracks. His foreman's instincts picked up an unnatural vibration in the wooden floorboards before him.
"Gwi-Hyuk,"
Choin whispered.
Without further instruction, Gwi-Hyuk drew his sword half an inch. From the shadow of a cracked pillar, the silhouette of the person who had just overheard their entire conversation emerged.
This person was no ordinary disciple. He bore the insignia of the Blood Sea Sect, another demon faction that should not have been within Evernight Gate's territory.
Yoe Choin's planned internal audit would have to confront an uninvited "foreign investor" sooner than he expected.