Unable to stand by and watch this absurd spectacle any longer, the Blade Demon kicked off the ground with a sharp burst of force.
His body soared skyward as though taking flight, and in the same motion he drew the massive blade from his back. A weapon gleaming with clear silver light—the Moonwhite Blade, his signature armament forged from Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron.
The Blade Demon flipped his body mid-air and plunged between the Mad Demon and Cheon Ha-rin like a diving raptor.
"Playtime is over!"
CRAAASH—!
The instant the Blade Demon touched down with his cry, a tremendous boom rocked the grounds. The earth beneath his feet couldn't withstand the impact and split apart in a web of cracks.
The cadets gaped, momentarily stunned by the sudden intrusion of someone descending from the sky.
What just happened?
Their gazes drifted to the Blade Demon.
"Wh-who is that?"
"The B-Blade Demon? Why is he here......?"
The Mad Demon's appearance alone had already strained belief, and now the Blade Demon had arrived as well. Two Demon Lords—figures cadets rarely had the chance to glimpse even once—in the same place.
Why had figures of such stature descended upon a mere cadets' examination ground? The cadets' minds drowned in chaos, their jaws hanging slack.
As everyone held their breath and watched, the Blade Demon fixed the Mad Demon with eyes blazing with fury.
"Hey, you maniac!"
This single utterance froze the air in the examination grounds solid. One Demon Lord—an object of reverence and dread—hurling profanity point-blank at another. An unimaginable sight.
The cadets couldn't begin to comprehend what was unfolding before them; they had passed beyond confusion into something closer to panic.
The Mad Demon, for her part, didn't so much as blink at the Blade Demon's crude outburst.
She released Cheon Ha-rin's blade from between her fingers and tilted her head languidly toward the Blade Demon. Irritation was blended into her violet gaze.
"Oh my, wasn't it someone who talked big about leaving the trial to yours truly and then walked off? What brings him here?"
The Blade Demon's expression soured further. He drove the tip of his Moonwhite Blade into the ground with a resounding thud and fired back.
"If you'd given a trial that actually resembled a trial, I wouldn't have needed to intervene. But look at the mess you've made."
"'Mess' is a bit......"
"At this rate, not a single one of these brats will pass—it's blindingly obvious! What deranged mind cooked up the idea of having them land a hit on you!"
The Blade Demon's rebuke thundered across the examination grounds. The Mad Demon couldn't find a word to say in response. Even with ten mouths, she had nothing to argue.
It was then that a strained voice wedged itself between their taut standoff.
"I...... can still fight......"
It was Cheon Ha-rin, standing right beside them. Her fighting spirit remained unbroken. But the Blade Demon shook his head at her with cold finality.
"The martial world is not some dreamland where willpower alone solves everything. Especially not in a situation like this. Remember—what you're showing right now is not courage. It's recklessness."
The Blade Demon's icy words drove into Cheon Ha-rin's pride like a dagger. She couldn't utter a single retort, biting down on her lower lip in frustration.
Her fingertips trembled faintly. It was the moment she had to acknowledge her own limits, however much she hated it.
"Are we understood?"
"......"
The Blade Demon said no more to Cheon Ha-rin. He walked past her in silence and approached the Mad Demon, his eyes glinting coldly.
"As you know, my Moonwhite Blade is forged from Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron."
At those words, Ha Jin, watching from the sidelines, couldn't help but be startled. With his basic knowledge of martial arts novels, he couldn't possibly not know what Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron was.
Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron—iron tempered over ten thousand years. Arguably the hardest metal in existence, was it not?
And the price was said to be whatever the seller demanded. For someone to have refined it into a weapon and carry it around like that.
'That's an incredible man!'
That was roughly the extent of Ha Jin's assessment. In any case, the Blade Demon swung his Moonwhite Blade almost before his words had ended. It looked like nothing more than a flash of light streaking across the air.
"You need to dodge!"
But amid the cadets' cries of alarm, the Mad Demon met the blade with two raised fingers, her expression just as languid as before.
CRAAASH—!
An impact sound incomparably greater than the last exploded in every direction. The ground beneath their feet heaved, and the shockwave's cloud of dust swallowed both figures in an instant.
As the dust slowly cleared, an unbelievable sight was revealed.
The Mad Demon stood utterly unscathed, wearing a face that could only be described as bored, having blocked the Blade Demon's Moonwhite Blade barehanded. She looked perfectly at ease.
'Even accounting for the fact that I put no inner force behind it......'
The Blade Demon sighed inwardly as he recalled the Mad Demon's extraordinary physique. Then he addressed the cadets.
"As you've just witnessed, the Mad Demon's unique body-protection art has elevated her physical body to a level that cannot be breached by ordinary attacks. In other words, landing an effective blow on her is flatly impossible at your level."
At the Blade Demon's outburst, the Mad Demon responded in a drowsy tone.
"That's true enough."
A nonchalant admission, as though she'd just been complimented. A vein bulged on the Blade Demon's forehead.
"Don't say that so proudly, you lunatic!"
The Blade Demon ultimately sheathed his Moonwhite Blade. There was no point in continuing the current trial anyway. With a sigh, he turned to address the cadets.
"Listen well. This is not meant to belittle you. But know this: at your level, you cannot so much as scratch that woman."
A Demon Lord of equal standing had just swung Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron at her and left no mark. No cadet could argue with that.
"Therefore, I am changing the trial from this point forward."
***
The Blade Demon turned to Chae Un-ryang and asked.
"Instructor, can we run the originally planned trial immediately?"
Chae Un-ryang shook his head, his face grim.
"Everything that had been prepared was cleared away. It is impossible, Lord Blade Demon."
"Good grief......"
The Blade Demon heaved yet another sigh and shot a glare at the Mad Demon. Watching her feign innocence, he deliberated briefly before reaching a conclusion.
"Fine. The new trial will be to block a single strike from the Mad Demon."
A fresh wave of murmuring swept through the cadets. The Blade Demon continued.
"Relax. For all her formidable external arts, her offensive technique is close to subpar. If you pour every ounce of inner force you have into it, you should be able to manage somehow."
"Must yours truly be the one to do it?"
The Mad Demon grumbled as though it were a bother. The Blade Demon stared at her in disbelief.
"Would you rather I did it? If I do, every last one of them will be split clean in half. If that's fine with you."
At the chilling remark, the Mad Demon shrugged. She was well aware that what she'd already done constituted a serious incident. Creating more trouble was something even she wanted to avoid.
One wrong move and she might truly earn the Sect Leader's wrath.
"Can't be helped."
She beckoned the cadets once more and drawled.
"Right then, whoever wants to go first, come on up. Let's get this over with quickly—I'm already bored."
At the Mad Demon's invitation, Cheon Ha-rin moved to step forward again. Determination blazed in her eyes, as though she intended to reclaim her bruised pride. But the Mad Demon waved her off.
"You're done. I've seen enough of your skill and spirit—consider yourself passed. There are far too many others who still need to be tested."
This class of Demon Path Hall cadets numbered five hundred. Minus Cheon Ha-rin, that was four hundred and ninety-nine. For the Mad Demon, this was a truly tedious affair.
Cheon Ha-rin nodded in silence at the Mad Demon's words. She, too, had realized that pressing further was pointless.
The Mad Demon jerked her chin toward the remaining cadets.
"Same conditions as before. Whoever wants to go first, step up."
This time, too, someone climbed onto the sparring platform ahead of the rest. Yun Geom—the one who had protested to Chae Un-ryang earlier. He offered a light clasped hands greeting to the Mad Demon and spoke in a composed voice.
"I humbly request a bout."
The Mad Demon, instead of answering, thrust her hand forward.
No special technique, no flourish—a plain, simple motion. But the force behind it was anything but ordinary.
WHOOOM—!
Yun Geom hastily raised his sword into a defensive form against the incoming hand.
CLANGCLANG—!
A piercing metallic ring, and a massive shockwave swept the area. Inside the torrent of force crashing down on him, Yun Geom felt every hair on his body stand on end.
The hand gripping his sword went numb as though it would burst, and his bones screamed. Only a single thought filled his mind.
'So this is a Demon Lord's power......?'
An overwhelming gulf in strength that seemed to negate everything he had built as a martial artist. For the first time, a look of genuine alarm surfaced clearly on his face.
The Mad Demon regarded Yun Geom—who had barely endured her strike—for a moment, then lost interest and withdrew her hand.
"Hmm. You managed to block it. Pass."
She shifted her gaze away from Yun Geom and beckoned the next cadet.
"Next."
Despite having just witnessed Yun Geom's struggle, the next cadet to climb up was brimming with confidence. But the moment he took his stance on the platform, he met a brutal end.
CRACK—!
The Mad Demon's swatting hand sent the cadet flying off the platform like a sheet of paper. He spun several times in the air before slamming into the distant ground, where he lay utterly motionless.
'Is he even alive?'
Groans of shock rippled through the cadets at the overwhelming display.
"Good lord......"
Now they understood. This trial was by no means easy. Yun Geom had endured it because he was exceptional—not because the trial was lenient.
Hope turned to terror in the blink of an eye. Watching from afar, Ha Jin's brow furrowed as well.
'What the hell is that?'
The scene from moments ago still hadn't left his eyes. An overwhelming, seemingly unstoppable force. And the cadet who had been shattered by it.
'Can I block that......?'
Ha Jin began seriously weighing his options. His incompletely recovered mana, a body that had trained in neither martial arts nor anything else of substance.
Considering all of this, no easy answer presented itself. While his deliberation continued, several more cadets were sent flying.
'Let me watch a bit longer. She might tire out......'
At last, a woman who had been silently observing everything stepped onto the sparring platform without a word. In one hand she held a massive blade that looked taller than she was.
A slender frame paired with a preposterously enormous weapon—So-yeon, the Blade Demon's daughter.
The Mad Demon smirked at the sight of her and slid a glance toward the Blade Demon.
"Oh my, another precious face graces the stage?"
Her gaze was laden with the intent to evaluate "your daughter." The Blade Demon said nothing, merely watching his daughter in silence.
The Mad Demon thrust her hand forward once more. A strike carrying the same immense force as before.
But So-yeon's response was different from the others. Without a trace of panic, she simply extended her blade forward.
THUMP—!
A tremendous boom, and the Mad Demon's hand collided with So-yeon's blade. Not a single tremor. Like a great tree with deep roots, she absorbed the blow with steady, unflinching composure.
The Mad Demon looked at her with an expression suggesting all the fun had drained away.
"Passed. Get down."
The moment So-yeon silently sheathed her blade and descended from the platform, the Blade Demon—who had held his silence until now—finally opened his mouth. As though he had been waiting for precisely this moment, he puffed out his chest and declared with pride.
"Whose daughter do you think she is? That much is only natural!"
He looked enormously pleased with himself.
The Mad Demon, meanwhile, scrunched her face in displeasure and muttered under her breath.
"Boring, really. This isn't going to work. Ghost Hand's disciple—you're here, aren't you? Get out here."
In that instant, every gaze in the grounds converged on a single point. Everyone was staring at Ha Jin.
'Me......?'
Ha Jin had no choice but to curse inwardly.
Why is it suddenly me, you lunatic?!