Whether my facial expression revealed what I wanted to say, Senior Brother Liu shrugged his shoulders.

“Doesn’t Huashan allow all disciples to marry? Moreover, as the eldest senior brother, you will ascend to the position of sect leader later, so many must have calculated that it would be fine to form connections through marriage in advance.”

“Calculations……”

“Isn’t that how it is for everyone? Anyway, the eldest senior brother rejected them all.”

I forgot that in this era, it’s rare for people to marry out of mutual affection. It’s generally thought of as an alliance between families rather than love. I didn’t know this even applied to sects.

“Anyway, that’s the situation with the male disciples, and among the female disciples, the daughters of the Tang family and the Zhuge family are famous.”

“Don’t those people have nicknames?”

“Dufeng and Duhua of the Tang family, Zhibong of the Zhuge family.”

“That seems strangely half-hearted compared to the others……”

Senior brother suddenly burst out laughing.

“I find your commentary amusing.”

“Why is that?”

“You often point out things I hadn’t even considered. Instead of being curious about who they are, you first comment on their nicknames lacking effort.”

Swallowing his laughter, senior brother added.

“Since it’s the common people who give nicknames, they probably pay relatively less attention to female martial artists. But this time might be different since you’re participating?”

“Me?”

“Just being a disciple of Huashan’s First Sword will attract a lot of attention. Plus, both you and Ha Hyun have high achievements, so you’ll stand out more. There aren’t many senior disciples of the right age, and it hasn’t been long since you joined, so it feels like we’re bringing you to gain experience. Seriously, you and Ha Hyun are the only ones from Huashan who could aim for victory.”

“When you put it that way, it suddenly feels burdensome, senior brother.”

“Your expression doesn’t show it at all though?”

The truth was I really didn’t feel burdened, so I just laughed. Even if he says that, he won’t be disappointed if I don’t win.

“You’re really not feeling pressured?”

Perhaps feeling concerned after saying it himself, Senior Brother Liu asked again. Compared to a few years ago, senior brother has become much calmer, but he still has these careless moments. I smiled and answered.

“Don’t worry. I still don’t think much of it.”

“Right, that’s your strength.”

In truth, even though I say that, it’s not that I have absolutely no thoughts. I just realized anew that depending on how I do, it could partly affect Master’s reputation.

But I don’t usually do anything that could be criticized, so shouldn’t I just act as usual?

If I do my best as much as I can, surely an acceptable result will follow.

The day arrived for the group, including disciples participating in the Yongbong Assembly and some elders of the sect, to head to Kaifeng in Henan.

To be precise, the elders of the sect include the sect leader, two elders, and three first-generation disciples. Among them were the Great Master and my master. The rest are second-generation disciples like me and Ha Hyun, and about ten third-generation disciples.

In total, it was an ambiguous group of about twenty people, which could be considered many or few.

It was fitting for the sect leader and elders to ride in carriages for the sake of appearances, but the rest were able-bodied martial artists, so we decided to ride horses.

As an exception, the third-generation disciples who were around fifteen or sixteen years old were to ride in carriages, as there was no need to exhaust their strength before even reaching Hubei.

“You rode a horse once before, right?”

Sabaek asked as he handed me the reins.

“Yes.”

“It will take about eight to nine days. If you notice any problems with your junior disciples along the way, quickly inform those in front. You can use sound transmission now, right?”

I nodded.

I learned how to send sound transmissions this year, so it wasn’t something I had known for long, but I could naturally convey a few words over short distances.

“Among the participating disciples, you have the highest rank, so you’ll need to pay attention.”

“I understand.”

Master, Sabaek, and Sasuk will go in front of the carriage, and the rest will follow behind. Even with the carriage, the distance between us won’t be too far, but it would still be difficult to immediately notice if a problem occurs. So a person in charge was needed.

I didn’t expect it to be me.

Especially because I have the highest rank…

There’s nothing wrong with it and it’s entirely factual, but even Sabaek looked somewhat surprised as he said it, and I felt the same receiving it.

As I received the reins and looked up, our eyes met, and realizing we were feeling similar things, Sabaek and I burst out laughing at the same time.

“You’ve… grown a lot.”

Sabaek said, swallowing his laughter.

“Work hard. I’m counting on you.”

“I’ll make sure you don’t have to worry.”

It’s not really a difficult task anyway. They’re all around high school age by modern Earth standards, and although the ranks are different, Ha Hyun, who is my junior disciple, is even 2 years older than me in age. It means there’s no one young enough to cause strange trouble.

As I thought, the journey progressed without any particular incidents.

On the morning of the eighth day after departure, the group was able to arrive near the Murim Alliance in Kaifeng.

“There are definitely a lot of people.”

“Indeed.”

I looked around, agreeing with the words of admiration from one of my junior disciples. In fact, as we got closer to Henan, we encountered quite a few groups consisting entirely of martial artists, but it seemed there were even more people who had already arrived.

“Oh? Senior brother.”

“What?”

“It looks like there’s already a martial arts match going on over there.”

“Huh?”

As I turned my head, it was indeed as he said.

A martial arts arena was set up outside the walls of the Murim Alliance, and it seemed quite serious rather than just a light match. Looking closely, there was even someone presumed to be a Murim Alliance member standing in the judge’s position.

“You’re right?”

The answer came from an unexpected place.

“It’s because the preliminaries are not yet finished.”

It was Sabaek, who I thought was still in front. I turned to him with surprised eyes, not knowing when he had come to the back.

“Preliminaries?”

“I came to tell you something I realized I hadn’t mentioned to you yet, and it happens to be about this. Actually, martial artists belonging to the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Clans participate from the main tournament without going through preliminaries. Those over there are from smaller sects, clans, or individual participants.”

The junior disciples murmured in surprise at this unexpected information. Of course, it was news to me as well. I turned to Ha Hyun, and he shook his head slightly. It meant he didn’t know either. I turned back to Sabaek, somewhat flustered.

‘Is it okay to discriminate so openly?’

It seems like too blatant of a privilege.

Wait, wasn’t this supposed to have a purpose of unifying the righteous faction?

I had heard before coming. This event, being held after a long time, was not only for the exchange of young martial artists but also for the leaders of each sect and clan to gather, discuss the state of the martial world, and work towards harmony.

‘This… and they call it harmony?’

It seemed I wasn’t the only one thinking this. The oldest of the junior disciples, who was the same age as me, asked Sabaek.

“Is, is this allowed? It’s strange to say this from a benefiting position, but isn’t this unfair?”

He and the other third-generation disciples seemed even more flustered, as they had all come with the feeling of gaining experience. Sabaek nodded with a bitter smile.

“It is unfair. I’m glad you don’t seem to take this for granted. You should continue to hold onto that thought until we leave Henan.”

Sabaek continued, looking at the third-generation disciples excluding me and Ha Hyun.

“Especially the third-generation disciples, you know you were brought to gain experience. However, that doesn’t mean you should take this Yongbong Assembly lightly. Among those you will be competing against, there will be those who have risen through such unfair situations. Always maintain a respectful attitude and a desire to learn from everyone.”

“Yes, Uncle-Master.”

While Sabaek and the junior disciples continued their conversation, I separately contemplated this unfair element.

It was such blatant discrimination that I was quite shocked upon hearing it, but after calming down and looking at it from a different angle, I suddenly thought that the organizers might have come up with this method after their own deliberations.

‘Disciples of major sects and clans are fed elixirs and only taught stable martial arts, so even at similar ages, their inner strength and martial arts level would naturally be higher. In the case of sects, they only recruit those with talent in the first place.’

Even in my case…

Although they say talent wasn’t considered due to my special admission, I’ve already taken two spirit pills, and I learned the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Technique, an advanced martial art, at an early age.

‘Did they think that if everyone went through the same preliminaries, more people would miss out on opportunities?’

This in itself is an extremely arrogant notion. But somehow, I had a feeling that this might be the organizers’ perspective.

“Ha Eun?”

“Ah, yes. Sabaek.”

Having seemingly finished what he needed to say to the junior disciples, Sabaek had come near me and Ha Hyun at some point.

“What are you thinking so deeply about?”

“About what you just said. I hadn’t considered that such privileges existed.”

“I thought you and Ha Hyun wouldn’t know since you both seemed quite indifferent to the Yongbong Assembly.”

Sabaek smiled, almost like a dry laugh.

“Since you heard what I said to your junior disciples, I suppose I don’t need to say more to you two?”

“We’ll do our best.”

“Good. Both of you are disciples of Master Yu Un, so you’ll attract a lot of attention. Keep that in mind and act accordingly.”

“Yes.”

I had already resolved to do my best as much as I could, but it seemed I needed to take it even more seriously.

‘I’ve already unknowingly received special treatment to the point where I can’t give it back.’

Then the only thing I can do is show respect…

After moving a bit further, the group arrived at the gate in the walls of the Murim Alliance.